Tales from the Hunt Tower
by Zeroan
Summary: Ruby and the Hunt can't always be out there saving the world. Sometimes, all they can do is stay in their cozy little tower in the heights of Vale and relax. Because that's ALL they do up there. Relax. No shenanigans allowed. Nope. (Companion piece to Phase 2 of the RWBY Superhero Universe/RSU)
1. That time Ruby had poor impulse control

**Author's Note: this story is a part of the RWBY Superhero Universe and it's going to have spoilers for pretty much everything. Read at your own risk! More information in the end notes.**

* * *

 **TALES FROM THE HUNT TOWER**

"That time Ruby had poor impulse control"

 **Setting:** after _Ruby Rose: Scattered Petals_.

* * *

"Man, I'm beat." Yang plopped down on the living room couch. "I think I'm gonna sleep for a week now."

Jaune walked past her towards the other couch, his feet dragging on the ground and arms hanging limp on his sides. He was so tired, he didn't even walk around the couch to lie down on it – he just hit his waist against the side of it and let himself fall face-first on it.

"That's a great idea," he said, voice muffled. "You mind if I join you?"

"As long as you stay away from my bed, we're good," Yang answered, her eyes already closing.

"Thanks. Not what I meant, but clear communication is always – always… appreciated…"

Jaune became increasingly harder to hear as his voice got lower and his words started to jumble together, until eventually he was just mumbling complete nonsense. And then he wasn't speaking at all.

Yang opened one eye to check on him and realized he had fallen asleep mid-sentence. She got up, grinning to herself as she imagined all the things she could do to him in his vulnerable state. Ruby had a bunch of colorful markers in her room, didn't she? And she was pretty sure they still had some leftover pie from last week. Oh, so many terrible, terrible ideas…

In the end, she decided to just get a pillow and put it under his head so he could get some better sleep. Just because he had fallen asleep on the couch didn't mean it was comfortable. Though of course, she wasn't doing that purely out of the kindness of her heart… she was just that tired that even this perfect opportunity for a prank was too much energy to spend.

Man, did they have a demanding job.

Yang rubbed her eyes and started limping back to her couch, intending to follow Jaune's example and just crash there even if her room was just some twenty steps away. But just as she lied down and closed her eyes, the beep of the Tower's elevator stopping on their floor and its doors opening snapped her back to attention.

"-and Yang just went _kablam!_ and punched the Ursa into the air and I was like _kashing!_ and sliced it clean in half as I flied by, it was perfect timing, we didn't even have to say anything to each other!"

Ruby walked out of the elevator, bouncing restlessly on the balls of her feet. She was followed a second later by a much less animated Pyrrha, though she still wore a vaguely interested smile as she listened to Ruby go on and on about their last hunt.

"Ooh, but you know what was even more awesome than that?" Ruby turned on Pyrrha, her lips stretching into an ear-to-ear smile. "That time when I was fighting off a bunch of Grimm at once, and I was cut off from the rest of you guys and I was like, _gosh darnit, I'm gonna have to really work to get out of this jam_ , but then _bam bam bam!_ , you showed up outta nowhere and covered me with your sniper, it was sooo cool!"

Pyrrha's smile slowly faded as she stared silently at Ruby, confusion evident in her eyes.

"You do remember that, don't you, Pyrrha?" Ruby asked. "I was on the ground, and you were on top of a house? That's how you had a clear shot at the Grimm. And then one of them tried to sneak up on you but I saw them first and warned you…"

"Oh, right. I remember that," Pyrrha said, blinking a couple times. "Sorry. My mind got a little lost just now. It's probably due to how long we were out on the field." She paused. "You know, it was a _long_ time for _anyone_ to be away from home."

"Yeah! The longest since this all began, right?!" Ruby said eagerly. "I wonder when we'll get to do this again? I can't wait! Anyway, you wanna teach me how to use a sniper?"

"Hmm? Oh. I promised you, didn't I?" Pyrrha closed her eyes for a moment. "Maybe later?"

Ruby shrugged and hopped over to the living room, failing to notice the sigh of relief that Pyrrha released behind her.

"Alright!" Ruby exclaimed. "Team bonding time! Now that we are all back home, what do you guys wanna- Yang, what are you doing?"

"Trying to catch some shut-eye after killing Grimm for a week straight?" Yang muttered, eyes closed.

"But… but… team bonding time," Ruby said. "I thought we'd all agreed to this."

"That was before my body started to ache in ways I never knew were possible." Yang winced as her leg gave a little involuntary jump. "Yup. That's a new one. Ouch."

"But I'm just… I'm still so pumped up!" Ruby frowned. "I get that you guys are tired – uh, especially Jaune, it looks like – so it's okay if you wanna rest a while. But I don't work like that. I'm more like a… a huge energy balloon that keeps absorbing more energy and gets even hugger until finally it reaches a breaking point and explodes! Then I sleep. A lot."

"That doesn't seem healthy," Pyrrha noted quietly.

"Look, Ruby, if you wanna do your thing, then go ahead," Yang said. "This isn't school, nobody's gonna punish you for going off on your own to vandalize the walls of the girls' bathroom because that skank Veronica stole your date for the Winter ball even though you waited a whole month without asking him out and now you need some outlet for your boundless rage."

"Yang… Uhm…"

"I know, Pyrrha. Not healthy either. But it felt good at least. Freakin' Veronica with her purple lip gloss and perfect wavy hair."

Ruby crossed her arms. "Well, I guess I could go out and find something to do. It'll be fun. All by myself." She gave Yang an accusing look. " _Alone_."

"Yup. Have fun, kiddo." Yang rolled over on the sofa and hid her head under a pillow.

Ruby sighed and looked to Pyrrha for help, but the older Huntress just gave her a little smile and a shrug before leaving for her room.

"This isn't a problem. I can have fun on my own," Ruby whispered to herself. "Yup. Already having fun… Yay…"

* * *

Normally, Ruby didn't have any problem being alone. Heck, that was how she'd survived most of her school years. Being around people had always felt harder than just being by herself. And it wasn't like she was ever bored. She knew what she liked to do, whether that was playing videogames or tinkering with projects or reading books, and she always found new ways to expand those interests.

Those were all fine ways to spend her time, and it wasn't like she'd entirely abandoned them since she'd moved to Vale, but she'd made a promise to herself then. If she was going to be living with three of her closest friends, even if one of them was her sister, then she wasn't going to spend all her days living in a shell.

Vale was a time to expand her horizons. It was a time to focus on bettering herself, and the way she'd found to do that was by focusing on her friends – her team. But if they didn't need her now – or, if she was being completely honest with herself, they didn't even _want_ her – then what was she supposed to do?

Ruby only knew one thing. If she allowed herself to fall back into the person she'd been in school, even for a day, then it would be immensely difficult to break out again.

Maybe there was something she could do for Yang, Jaune and Pyrrha, even if they weren't exactly _with_ her. That seemed like a good starting point! A team leader always looks out for her underlings. Or teammates.

Whatever they preferred.

* * *

"I think I'll take the Super Mega Mixed Double Rainbow Special, with black and white chocolate flakes on top," Ruby said. "Four of them, please!"

The ice cream vendor stared wordlessly at her for a moment, eyes going up and down her considerably small height, before shrugging and getting to work on her order. "This might take a few minutes. How about you take a walk around the mall in the meanwhile, miss?"

"Alrighty!" Ruby said. "Thanks, man! Be back in a jiffy!"

She made twin finger-guns at him, which only made him more incredulous. Realizing how awkward the situation had become, Ruby did the only sensible thing and slowly backed away from the counter, never dropping the finger-guns. Once she was out the door, she spun around and flashed him a smile, then all but dove out of his view.

"Flawless recovery," she said smugly. "Social butterfly Ruby Rose strikes again."

She cleared her throat and walked away, choosing to take the vendor's advice and look around the mall for a while, if only to kill some time before her order was done. It was a good thing she'd brought some of Yang's patented _disguise shades_ with her when she'd left the Tower, or else everyone would be recognizing her and she wouldn't be able to get anywhere for hours.

The shades were a little too big for her head, though. Maybe that was why that the ice cream guy had looked at her so weird. It could only be that – her behavior her perfectly adequate for public settings, after all.

Clothes store. Boring.

Make-up store. More boring.

Electronics store. Kinda interesting, might be worth a look later.

Larger clothes store. Even more boring.

Hybrid clothes and make-up store. She was rolling in her grave, because she'd died of boredom.

Pet store.

"I shouldn't."

Ruby obeyed the unspoken law of human behavior and entered the pet store.

* * *

"Guys! Guess what I got us!"

Yang groaned and sat up on the couch, focusing all her being on holding back the nasty remarks that came to her as Ruby's shriek reached her very soul.

Goddamn, she just wanted to sleep.

"What is it, Ruby?" she mumbled. "Is it a new scythe part? No? Chicken nuggets?" She rubbed her belly. "I might actually like that."

"Even better!" Ruby somersaulted over the couch and landed in front of Yang. "Look at him!"

Ruby thrust her hands towards Yang, revealing… a dog. A partly-black, partly-white, corgi. It blinked at Yang a couple times, his tongue lolling out of its mouth, before barking and taking a lick at her nose.

"Ew!" Yang leaned away from the attacking tongue. "Ruby, what the-"

" _GRIMM ATTACK!_ "

Jaune jumped four feet off his respective couch, before landing on his feet haphazardly, two fists raised as if he was about to enter a bar brawl.

"Grimm attack on the living room!" he yelled. "Mom – I mean, Pyrrha! Help!"

Ruby and Yang rounded on him, silent as the wind. Even the dog had lost all interest on any noses and was only staring sharply at him now.

"What's going on?" Pyrrha came running into the living room, holding her hand out behind her. Her shield came flying out of her room a moment later, but she froze midway through attaching it to her arm. "Is that… a dog?"

"Yup!" Ruby said, thrusting the dog in Pyrrha's direction. "Meet Zwei, our new best friend! Say hello to Pyrrha, Zwei!"

Zwei barked at Pyrrha and started to waggle his tongue at the empty air between them.

"Oh. I see. Hi, Zwei…" Pyrrha waved awkwardly at the dog, which only made him more furious in his attempts to bypass the laws of physic and lick her from a distance.

"Ruby, you got yourself a dog?" Yang asked incredulously. "How? When? _Why_?"

"I got him just now, from a pet shop. I was going to get ice cream for all of us…" Ruby stopped. "Oh crap, I forgot the ice cream. Uh, anyway! I was _going to_ bring you all the best ice cream ever, but I got sidetracked by this little cutie here!"

She turned Zwei towards her and touched her nose to his. Notably, Zwei didn't even try to lick her, he seemed content enough to just enjoy the moment. Perhaps for him the joy was not in the licking, but in the struggle for it.

"So you got distracted by a cute dog and decided to buy him, just like that?" Jaune asked.

"I didn't buy him. There was a whole litter being sold, but Zwei was the only one up for adoption, because he's way too rowdy," Ruby said. "He bit me five times on the way here!"

As if to demonstrate, Zwei dug his tiny teeth into her shoulder. Ruby giggled and patted him on the back.

"Thank gosh I'm a superhero, or else I'd be bawling my eyes out right now!"

"Ruby, I'm glad you're happy, but…" Yang said. "Don't you think this is a little, uhm… How do I say this. A terrible decision…?"

"What! Zwei is a great decision! He's the best decision!" Ruby shouted.

"I think what Yang is trying to say is, while Zwei is very adorable, living here might not be very good for him," Pyrrha said patiently. "Think about how often we're out because of our job. Who's gonna feed him while we are gone?"

"We could ask the Beacon guys downstairs!" Ruby said. "They already fly us anywhere whenever we ask them. What's a little dog-sitting compared to that?"

"Ruby, that's part of their jobs. Zwei, as far as we know, is not going to be saving the world anytime soon, so giving him unconditional help is not in their job description," Yang said.

"Well, he can feed himself, then! He's a very smart boy, I'll show you." Ruby put Zwei on the ground. "Sit, Zwei!"

Zwei headbutted her foot, then ran a lap around the room and bit Jaune's ankle.

Yang snorted. "Maybe he's too smart for his own good."

"Look. If he can't stay here while we're out, then we'll just take him with us on missions!" Ruby declared. "That should be fine! Beacon has Grimm-hunting dogs. Right, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha looked away, rubbing her arms.

"I'm sorry, Ruby, I don't think there's a way this works out," Yang said, giving her a kind smile.

"Jaune?" Ruby gulped. "You're with me on this, right?"

"I don't know, Ruby. It seems like a lot of work," Jaune said. "You three can keep up the discussion, I'm just glad nobody realized I called Pyrrha Mom – ah crap did I just-"

"You know what? Whatever!" Ruby exclaimed, clenching her fists. "You guys don't wanna help? Fine! Continue doing your things that are _so important_ like _resting your minds and bodies after risking your lives a dozen times in a row_! Meanwhile, I'll be doing my own thing, working my butt off to give Zwei a good home!"

She picked up Zwei and stormed off to her room, only to return a moment later to shake her finger in front of Yang's face.

"By the way, Jonathan was way better off with Veronica than with you, and it wasn't just because of her lip gloss!"

Yang gasped indignantly, while Ruby _hmphed_ and stormed off again, for good this time.

"…We should get these two a therapist," Pyrrha muttered.

* * *

"Alright, Zwei! Let's do this again. Get the ball!"

Ruby counted from three out loud, then tossed the tennis ball towards the ceiling of her room. It stopped just short of hitting it, then plummeted fast. Zwei rose onto his hind legs, took a few clumsy steps backwards, and caught the ball with his mouth. He fell on his back, then rolled towards Ruby and dropped the ball on her lap.

"You did it again! Such a good boy!" Ruby clapped, then reached for her nightstand and took out a treat. "Here, for a good performance."

Zwei ate the treat off her hand and cooed happily. He lied down on his stomach and rested his chin on her foot, eyes staring up at her eagerly.

"See, I knew you were smart. It just takes a bit of coaxing," Ruby said. "But playing's one thing. We gotta teach you important life skills now, like feeding yourself and not jumping out of a window while nobody's watching." She smiled. "Don't worry if you're bad at that one at first, it took me a while to get it myself."

Ruby stood up and opened her closet, revealing the three large bags of dog food that were now fighting for territory with her clothes. She had moved everything Zwei-related to her room and kept it there for the three days he'd been living in the Tower. If no one else wanted him there, then so be it, she'd shoulder all the responsibility, and nobody had to see it.

"Okay, Zwei. This here is food. You know that well already, don't you?" Ruby asked, and Zwei barked happily in response. "Yup. But here's the important part: you can't just eat whenever you feel like it, or else you'll get sick! _Bad_ sick. So you've gotta pace yourself. One bowl in the morning, one bowl in the afternoon."

She filled his bowl with food and put it on the ground, but pointed a finger at him, telling him to stay put. Zwei glared at her, but obeyed, his tiny tail bouncing on the ground.

Ruby then took a wall clock from her nightstand. It was the one they kept in the living room, but she'd stolen it today while everyone was still asleep. They had all been rightfully confused to find it gone, but Ruby had feigned ignorance, _for revenge_.

Yeah, she was being a little petty, whatever.

"This is the clock, Zwei. It tells us the time to eat!" Ruby said. She changed the hour hand so it was on 10 a.m. and showed it to him. "This is lunch time. Eat, boy!"

Zwei's eyes straightened, as if he suspected some trickery was afoot. Carefully, he inched towards the food, then took one meager bite. He looked at her and Ruby nodded encouragingly, and he started to eat without reserve.

"Okay, okay! Good enough!" Ruby pulled him away from the bowl and gave him a treat. "Now here's the time for dinner!"

Ruby started to change the clock again, but midway through it, she started to feel something beneath her. Eventually, she realized the floor was shaking – the walls too. Ever so subtly, the whole Tower was shaking.

Suddenly, it intensified, making her bed and nightstand rock and slam against the wall. Ruby called for Zwei, but the loud noise of an engine overpowered her voice. She reached forward to catch him, but Zwei slipped between her fingers and ran under her bed, pressing himself against a corner and whining like mad, his eyes wide open in panic.

After a minute had passed, the noise stopped, as did the shaking, but Zwei continued to whine.

"H-hey, boy. It's okay!" Ruby said, lying down next to the bed. "That was just a Beacon jet taking off! They don't do that often, it's mostly for emergencies. Come here, it's over now!"

Zwei stopped whining, but didn't move from his spot at the corner. Ruby stretched her arm under the bed and grabbed him by the back of his neck, then gently dragged him out into the open. As soon as he was out, she lifted him and put him on her lap, letting him rest against her chest. He was shaking, of course, and she could feel his little heart beating at double speed.

"Ruby, everything alright there?" Yang called on the other side of the door. "Is Zwei okay?"

"He's okay!" Ruby yelled. "Just leave us alone!"

 _He's not okay_.

Ruby looked at Zwei, starting to tremble herself now. How could she be so stupid, bringing him to a place like this? And even if it weren't for the jets scaring him, did she really expect him to feed himself properly using a _clock_? And that was just the tip of the iceberg. What if he got sick while nobody was there, or he played with their weapons and got hurt, or someone bad came and…

"I'm sorry, boy." Ruby pressed her forehead against him. "I don't think this is gonna work out."

Zwei whined softly against her chest.

* * *

"I'm telling you, it was a slip of the tongue," Jaune said stubbornly. "That was it. An honest mistake. Have you never called one your teachers Dad or something embarrassing like that?"

"Okay, yeah, I might have done that once or twice," Yang conceded. "The difference being they were, you know, my Dad's age. Not mine."

"But Pyrrha's older than me," Jaune said.

"It's true," Pyrrha said. "My birthday is June 18th. His is September 3th." She smiled. "I just happened to remember that right now!"

Jaune gestured graciously at her. "Thank you, Pyrrha!"

"You two deserve each other."

A soft creaking of the floor alerted them to someone else in the living room. Yang looked over her shoulder and saw Ruby stopped like a statue on the way to the elevator, a large backpack on her pack and a bundle of fur in her arms.

"Ruby? Where are you going?" Yang asked. "And is that Zwei?"

Ruby looked down remorsefully and nodded. "I'm taking him back to the pet store."

"What! No, you're not!"

Yang jumped to her feet and marched towards Ruby, trying to take Zwei out of her arms, but Ruby turned away and kept the dog out of her reach.

"Stop it, Yang! You were the first one to say this wasn't gonna work out, and congratulations, you were right!" Ruby said. "I'm gonna do the right thing now, and you can't stop me."

"Not if it's up to me, you won't!" Yang made to grab her, but Ruby ducked under her arms and ran towards the elevator with Zwei in one arm, looking like he was having the time of his life.

"Hah! You'll never catch me, suckers!" Ruby shouted, mashing the elevator button to call it to their level.

Five seconds passed. Twenty. Forty. A whole minute. Ruby gave up on pressing the button.

"Okay, what's going on here-" Ruby gasped. "Pyrrha!"

Pyrrha put her glowing hands behind her back and smiled apologetically. "We don't need to catch you. We just need you to see reason."

"This is unacceptable! I am your team leader and I demand to be treated accordingly!" Ruby said, putting her foot down.

Zwei barked for moral support.

"Ruby, listen. We know you're upset, but we just wanna talk," Jaune said. "We heard what happened with Zwei earlier, with the jet and all that. He must have been really scared."

"He almost had a heart attack!" Ruby corrected angrily.

"Yeah. But you calmed him down, right? He should be fine next time it happens, we just have to be there for him," Yang said.

"And about the food problem," Pyrrha said. "We've been doing some researching, and there are a few solutions to that. It might take a while to decide what's best, but that should be a decision we can make together easily."

"But that's… It's not that simple," Ruby said. "There's a bunch more stuff we gotta look out for. I'm not sure we can handle all of it."

"Sure we can, as a team. If we can save the world from calamity, we can take care of one air-licking corgi," Yang said. "Just don't expect me to clean up his poop. I'm strictly the cool aunt." She looked at Pyrrha. "And you're the mom, obviously."

"Goddamnit, Yang," Jaune groaned.

"Guys… I really, really appreciate this. You're the best team ever!" Ruby said. "Here, Zwei! Be free!"

She dropped Zwei on the ground, and the four of them watched him for a moment. His eyes scanned the area around him, waiting for any threats to make themselves known, until finally he found one – a pillow that had been left on the floor of living room. With a bark and a snarl, he took of running and snatched the evil object with his teeth, and started to trash it about like a true hero.

"Yeah, he's gonna need some training." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and went after the dog, whistling to try to get his attention, but Zwei only ran away from him while his slaughtering of the pillow intensified.

Pyrrha went after Jaune to help him corner Zwei, and Ruby made to follow too, but Yang put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Hey, Ruby. I'm sorry I was so harsh with you about Zwei earlier," Yang said quietly. "I should have listened to you more. And, uh… I'm sorry if we made you feel alone…"

Ruby shrugged. "It's alright. I'm fine being alone sometimes. Kinda the usual…"

"It shouldn't be the usual." Yang sighed. "I'm gonna try harder so this never happens again."

"Uh-uh. That's a _no_ from your team leader," Ruby said. "You know how you're always telling me to slow down? Well, you know it never works. The same goes if you try to keep up with me. Someone's gonna end up miserable." She smirked. "We're just on different speeds most of the time."

"I guess that's one way of looking at it." Yang scratched her head dubiously. "Okay. Just promise me you won't isolate yourself too much?"

"Yup! Now that we have Zwei, that won't be a problem!" Ruby said. "Actually I might have some trouble keeping up with him…"

They heard the kitchen door being slammed against a wall, then the noise of a dozen glasses shattering on the floor.

Yang pinched her forehead, while Ruby slowly stepped around her, laughing nervously.

"Oh boy…"

* * *

 **Surprise! Well, I guess this is a surprise, if you forgot about that little tease after _Scattered Petals_. Honestly I don't blame anyone for forgetting that, with how long it took me to actually start this thing.**

 **So, _Tales from the Hunt Tower_. This is going to be a companion piece to the _RSU_ 's Phase 2, consisting of unrelated one-chapter stories focusing on the mostly-ordinary lives of our dear Huntresses (and Huntsman). These chapters won't be coming out as often as the main stories - my not-plan is to have 2 chapters of this per main story. And if you're worried, no, the schedule of _Blake_ and everything else after her won't be affected by _Tales_. The main stories will always be my first priority.**

 **Regarding spoilers: every chapter will have a disclaimer next to the title in the beginning, indicating when it takes place (like this one, 'after _Scattered Petals_ '). That's mostly for the sake of people catching up or doing re-reads, so they don't get spoiled for stuff they haven't got to yet. If you're caught up to the newest story, you'll be fine reading _Tales_.**

 **Lastly. Nothing that happens here will be _world-altering_. My main goal with _Tales_ is to focus on the relationships between the universe's main characters, maybe introduce some already-existing individuals to the group, but - unless I really change my mind - I _won't_ be introducing all new characters. So, no, Cardin won't be making his triumphant debut here either.**

 **(sorry)**

 **Well, that was a lot of information for a story that's all for the sake of fun. Am I forgetting anything? Nah, I don't think so. Man this is going to be fun. I can't wait to-**


	2. Let's talk about punishment

"A book? Are you being serious?"

Ruby blinked at Cinder, puzzled by her reaction. "Yeah, I'm serious. It's yours until my next visit," she said. "Don't you remember you asked me for something to read last time?"

"Yes… But I was joking," Cinder said. "If anything, I was expecting you to bring me a dictionary or something. Perhaps a philosophical essay on morality and crime." She smirked. "That last one doesn't sound like your kind of humor, though."

"Yeah, my humor is way more sophisticated than that." Ruby nodded. "You like it? It's my favorite book. I had to buy a new copy because I forgot mine back in my Dad's apartment."

Cinder turned the book over and read the blurb on the back. "Very fantastical, it seems. Not that I would have expected anything less. But I'll keep from judging it until I've read it through."

"Don't worry, you're gonna love it!"

Cinder looked up from the book, eyes narrowing in wonder.

"You do realize _this_ …" She gestured around her, at the walls that were so close apart she could barely take three steps before having to turn back around, the bed that was just big enough for her to lie down straight, and the dim light on the ceiling that was kept out of her reach by a hard glass shell. "All of this, is supposed to be punishment? Having a book to read, that doesn't fit in at all with the purpose of this cell."

"Well, yeah. But it's not like I'm punishing you personally." Ruby shrugged. "I had to work hard to convince Ms. Goodwitch to let me give you this. She didn't like the idea."

"So you don't think I deserve punishment?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah, you do. You did some pretty terrible stuff, Cinder, and don't think for a second that I've forgotten that," Ruby said, crossing her arms. "But the reason we punish people and keep them in prison is to get them to see the error of their ways, right? Maybe then they can become better people. At least that's the theory."

"And you know that's just not going to happen with me," Cinder said. "Well, aren't you growing up fast…"

"Yup. Punishing you is just pointless. The real reason you're here is to keep everyone else safe," Ruby said. "No harm in giving you something to occupy your time, then. Maybe keeping you in a good mood is better for everyone, even!"

"And is that the argument you used with Goodwitch?" Cinder smirked. "You little trickster. All this talk, but you're just doing this out of the kindness of your heart, aren't you?"

Ruby got up from her seat and wiped her mouth to hide her smile.

"I don't know. You tell me, Cinder," she said. "When have I ever done anything not out of the kindness of my heart?"


	3. That time Yang saw the universe

**TALES FROM THE HUNT TOWER**

"That time Yang saw the universe"

 **Setting** : after _Ruby Rose: Scattered Petals_.

* * *

For the fiftieth time that morning, Yang coughed. Loudly. Violently. Disgustingly. This-is-the-worst-week-of-my-life-y.

Maybe that was a little dramatic. There was that week when Ruby had gone missing because she'd been captured by a bunch of robe-wearing, ritualistic-heart-stabbing Grimm worshippers. That week had sucked a lot too. Yang had gotten into a few scrapes herself then, also.

She coughed again, and the kickback almost had her falling off her stool at the kitchen counter.

Nope. That sucky week had definitely lost is sucky throne, and everyone could call her a bad sister for thinking that way.

The kitchen door opened a little, and Ruby's eyes ventured past the doorframe, as concerned as they were scared. Yang had nearly lost her temper a couple times over Ruby's constant checking on her, and now she was reluctant to even look at her for too long, as if Yang might just bite her head off or something. The guilt definitely wasn't helping Yang's recovery.

"That was a pretty bad one," Ruby said quietly.

Yang grunted in response. She looked down at her half-eaten sandwich and poked it, then pushed the plate away sulkily. Her appetite had gone the same way as her dignity as of late.

"You okay?" Ruby asked. "You look kinda like that time uncle Qrow offered you one of his drinks and you had to run to the back of the house to- well, you know." Ruby stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes.

"Ruby, that was you. _You_ drank from Qrow's flask, and you were _twelve_ ," Yang said. "He didn't even offer. You did it just to prove that you could."

Ruby stepped into the kitchen, her hands on her hips. "And did I _not_ do that?"

"You definitely proved _something_ ," Yang said. "Probably that Dad has the patience of a saint. He didn't even yell at you."

"Because he was impressed by my unyielding tenacity," Ruby said, smiling smugly.

Yang was too sick to argue. It would be easier on both of them if she just let Ruby keep that belief.

"You're not hungry again?" Ruby asked, looking worriedly at the sandwich.

"Hmm? No, no. I'm fine," Yang said. "Just taking a break to talk to you, is all." She coughed. "Nice talk!"

Ruby looked at her suspiciously. "And your medicine?"

"Yeah, yeah, I have taken the pills, thank you," Yang said. She bit the inside of her cheek. Just thinking about those foul pills made her stomach churn. "You done with the interrogation, miss nurse?"

Ruby sighed. "Alright, I got it. Sorry for bothering you," she said. "Get to the command room when you're done eating. We're gonna do a final meeting before me and Pyrrha leave."

"Ruby, you can't keep calling the living room _the command room_ ," Yang said. "I mean, you can, but it's not gonna catch on."

" _Command room_ , five minutes," Ruby said sternly, and made her leave, her cape flying majestically as she spun around. Or it would have been majestic, if it hadn't caught on the doorknob and she hadn't had to fight to untangle it for a solid ten seconds before she finally managed to walk out of the kitchen.

Once again, Yang was left in awe of her sister's grace.

Then she coughed again, and her good humor drained away in an instant. She planted her forehead on the kitchen counter and groaned.

Damned viruses. She wished she could punch them. Then again, even if she could, she'd probably be too weak to actually do any damage. Maybe she could settle on softly blowing at them in righteous anger. That'd show them to mess with her.

She waited a couple minutes, then tossed the remains of her sandwich in the trash and walked to the living room, dragging her feet like a ghoul. She plopped down on the sofa beside Jaune, who threw a concerned glance her way before quickly looking away.

"Sup," Yang said, and sat a little straighter on the sofa when Ruby turned to look at her. "So we gonna talk Grimm-smashing or what? Where's my girl P-Money?"

"P-Money is here, reporting for duty."

Pyrrha entered the living room, clad in her metallic fighting attire. She readjusted the bracers around her wrists for a moment, then looked up at the rest of the team when she noticed how silent they were.

"I mean… _I_ am here," she said, flushing. "Pyrrha Nikos. Reporting for duty." She cleared her throat. "Feeling better, Yang?"

"Yup. Fine as a P-Money," Yang said, and made finger-guns at Pyrrha. " _If_ anyone can be as fine as this girl! Am I right, folks?"

She elbowed Jaune on his side, and he shook his head at her. "Being sick has made you very, uh… chatty, hasn't it, Yang?" he mumbled.

"You mean obnoxious," Ruby said. "And we should all know she's like that all the time."

"You're gonna regret having said when my lungs come flying out of my nostrils," Yang said.

"First off, _ew_ ," Ruby said. "Second off, let's talk mission!" She hopped back and gestured at the TV, which was _not_ turned on. "I was going to make a video presentation but I, uh… forgot, but anyway!"

"Amazing," Yang mumbled, and covered her mouth to muffle a cough.

" _Anyway_ , as I was saying!" Ruby continued. "Here's the order of business for the next few days. Pyrrha and I are gonna fly over to Mistral, 'cause the readings show that there are gonna be a lot of Grimm over there this next week. And we can never know how bad these things are gonna get, so we might be gone even longer than that."

"Maybe I should come along, then?" Jaune said. "I mean, I know that you two are our biggest powerhouses-"

"Hey!" Yang slapped his shoulder with the strength of an average-sized four-year-old.

"-but the more heads on the field, the better, right?" Jaune finished.

"True, and I appreciate the offer, but," Ruby said. "There's gonna be a big Breach in Vale the day after tomorrow, the kind regular Beacon folks can't handle by themselves. So you and Yang are staying behind to take care of it."

"Ah." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Okay, then. Sounds like a plan."

"I do enjoy a punchy-punchy," Yang mumbled. "And a blondy-blondy together-brawl-out."

Jaune frowned. "I don't understand half of what she just said."

"Yang, if you're not better by then, you're not going with Jaune," Ruby said. "That's an order from your leader."

"I _will_ be better by then," Yang said. "The doctor said this is nothing big, remember? As long as I rest and take the icky stuff he gave me, I'll be a-okay. And hey, I'm already…" She coughed. "Fine as a P-Money."

Pyrrha looked down at herself and pouted.

" _Yang_ ," Ruby said, crossing her arms. "Promise me you're not gonna go fight any Grimm unless you're feeling one hundred percent okay. _Promise_."

"I can-" Yang cut herself short and sighed. "Okay. I promise."

Ruby stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "Good," she said. "Also, someone's gotta wash Zwei's ears. He's mad at me 'cause I've been giving him less treats, and now he won't let me take care of him."

She looked at Zwei, lying on his bed at the corner of the room, and his little ears folded on top of his head as he glared at her.

"Whatever, you big meanie. It's your problem if you grow deaf!" Ruby shouted. "Pyrrha! Let's go!"

She marched away to the elevator, and after a moment of confusion, Pyrrha waved a swift goodbye to Yang and Jaune and followed her. The elevator dinged as it arrived on their floor, and Ruby appeared again, looking around the corner.

"Oh, and Jaune," she said quickly. "Take care of my sister for me. Bye!"

She disappeared in a swirl of petals, and a few moments later, the elevator began ascending to the hangar at the roof of the Tower.

"Hm." Yang plopped down on the sofa and gazed at Jaune. "So, you're gonna take care of me, huh?"

Jaune sat awkwardly for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess that's the job for now."

"Good to know I'm nothing but a job to you." Yang sighed dramatically. "You boys are all the same. Can never appreciate what-"

She coughed, then coughed again, and the next thing she knew, she was doubled over on her side, hugging her knees against her chest.

"Stupid virus…" she whispered hoarsely.

"Do you need anything?" Jaune asked. "A glass of water, maybe?"

"No. I think I'm just gonna take a nap," Yang said.

"Okay. But if you need me, just yell. Or, uh, if you can't yell… You know what, I'm sure you can figure something out!" Jaune said. "I'll be negotiating with a terrorist."

He got up and walked over to Zwei, then crouched in front of him.

"Now listen here, you little furball nightmare. It's time for some tough love."

* * *

Yang was starting to unravel another of her sickness's terrible facets: the humiliation.

Now, it had already been embarrassing when the first signs that she'd caught something nasty started to show up. The others caught on to it pretty quick – mostly because she had hogged her and Ruby's bathroom all to herself for half a day, pretty much. And then everyone started to walk on eggshells around her, acting like she was going to fall over and turn to dust or something…

Yeah, it had been embarrassing. But it was nothing compared to being left behind. She didn't entirely buy Ruby's reasoning as to why only her and Pyrrha were going to Mistral. Surely they could have used her there with them. She might not be as skilled as Pyrrha, necessarily, but there was no doubt who came out on doubt when it came to raw power.

And if she wasn't going with them, Ruby could have at least spared her a mission elsewhere. There were always Grimm to kill. But no, here she was, left behind. Because she was weak.

Useless.

Almost as useless as Jaune was in the kitchen – a fact that could not leave her mind when she smelled the odd fragrances that were carrying over into the living room. The hissing of boiling water didn't help either.

"You, uh," Yang called out, summoning all the strength in her so her voice could be heard over in the kitchen. This was a matter of life and death, after all. "You sure you don't need help over there, Jaune? Maybe some… some guidance? Coaching?"

"It's fine! Everything's fine!" Jaune shouted back. "Don't worry about me!"

"I'm not worried, it's just that…" Yang paused for a second. "It's just that you don't know how to cook! But I do! So!"

The hissing of water lessened a bit, and Jaune came out of the kitchen, heat-protective gloves on his hands and an apron around his neck. Truly the attire of a harbinger of the apocalypse.

"It's alright, Yang. I've got everything under control, trust me," he said. "The kitchen is not going to blow up this time."

Well, how could that _not_ inspire her confidence?

"Look, Jaune. When I said I wasn't hungry, I really meant it," Yang said. "I wasn't just saying that to avoid your cooking. I wouldn't do that. Pinky swear. So if this is a pride thing…"

"It's not," Jaune said. "I'm mostly making dinner for myself, Yang. It's a bonus if you want some too." He crossed his arms. "I gotta learn to cook sometime. I love myself some instant noodles, you know I do, but I can't live on that forever."

"Ruby would object to that statement," Yang said. "I get what you're saying, Jaune. It's really admirable, actually. But don't you think it would be safer if you put off the practical learning for a little while? Maybe just until I'm in a fit condition to react to the sudden collapse of a thirty-story building?"

"Yang, I'm making soup," Jaune said. "My mother's soup, which has only healing properties. It could never bring down a building." He looked up at the ceiling, thoughtful. "I guess if you got, like, a bunch of helicopters to carry over a giant bowl of soup and poured it on the building, maybe it would fall."

He scratched his chin, entranced by the scenario.

"Jaune," Yang said. "The water's boiling."

Jaune noticed the hissing had increased again and sprinted back to the kitchen. Yang bit her lip nervously. Maybe it would be a kinder fate if her sickness took her before the floor exploded.

Luckily, she did not have to find out, as some time later, Jaune emerged from the kitchen, and she hadn't died nor had the building collapsed. But perhaps death still awaited her, she thought, when Jaune put a pot in the table between the sofa and the TV. He then brought out two bowls and filled one up for himself.

He took a spoon, and for a while, just stared at the steaming soup. He knew better than anyone how destructive his concoctions could be. And though this one appeared harmless, that didn't mean it couldn't kill a man.

Eventually, Jaune found his courage and took a sip. He was silent for a moment, smacking his lips together while a frown adorning his forehead.

"It's a little salty, I think," he said quietly. "And kinda bland. Mom's is much better. But I guess that's obvious." His eyes brightened. "I did it."

"You did?" Yang asked in wonder. "You made food that's actually edible?"

"I think so! Here, have a try!" Jaune picked up her bowl and started to fill it, only to stop after a couple spoonfuls. "I mean… If you wanna?"

Yang eyed him and the pot dubiously. She already felt awful enough eating trustworthy food. But the hopeful look on his face… Suspicious she might be, and sick as all hell, but she couldn't herself to crush him like that. She nodded, and he finished filling the bowl, then pushed it over to her side of the table.

Yang leaned forward and gingerly took the bowl. It was hot under her fingers, and the smell made her recoil – not because it was bad, not at all, it was just too much for her to take at once at the state she was in. Once she had adjusted to it, she took the spoon he offered, and carefully brought some of the soup to her lips.

"It's…" she said. "…pretty freaking good, actually."

"You really think so?!" Jaune exclaimed. "You're not just saying that, right?"

"I mean it. Maybe it's because I haven't been able to taste anything for a week now, but your soup is great," Yang said. "Good job."

He smiled at her, and Yang almost forgot she was sick.

"Well, I made a lot of it, maybe too much, so you can take as much as you want," Jaune said. "I'll make more when it runs out, too."

"Please do," Yang said, and took another big sip. "And thanks."

"You're welcome," he said. "By the way, did Ruby send you the info on the Grimm we're gonna be killing later?"

"Hmm?" Yang grudgingly lowered her spoon. "Maybe. She texted me a bunch earlier, but I didn't check my Scroll. I was busy pretending to be dead." She looked at him curiously. "Why? Should we be worried?"

"Not really. But it looks like it's gonna be a rough time," Jaune said. "Obviously we can't know what we're gonna be fighting exactly, but you know how it is. Super bad vibes, super big portal, super mean monsters." He tapped his bowl with his spoon nervously. "You, uh, you sure you're gonna be able to handle that?"

"Please. I am Yang Xiao Frickin' Long. I eat Grimm for breakfast," she said. "If you think a little virus is gonna keep me from doing my job, you've got another thing coming." She took a sip and felt her muscles loosen up as the warmth spread through her body. "Besides, with your wonder soup, I'm gonna be lifting trucks again in no time."

Jaune's eyebrows shot up. "You can lift trucks?"

"I dunno, actually. But I don't see why I couldn't." Yang shrugged. "We'll test that out later. Point is, you don't have anything to worry about. Just wait and see."

* * *

"Okay, I think the waiting part is done," Jaune said. "What was I supposed to see again?"

Yang did her best to appear angry at him, but that was hard to do when she was doubled over on the sofa with three layers of blankets hugging her like a cocoon.

"Yang, come on." He crouched next to the sofa, looking at her in concern. "You're not getting any better. You're even worse than yesterday!"

"N-not-" Yang pressed her face to the sofa and coughed, then looked up at him again, her nose running. "T-true…"

"Uhuh. I'm convinced."

Yang seethed in her cocoon. If only she had been a little quieter, he wouldn't have waken up, and everything would have carried on just fine. She was sure she would be back to normal when morning came. All she needed was time – and perseverance, lots of perseverance.

But now he was here, watching over her like some kind of mother hawk. Wait, were mother hawks _good_ mothers? Or did they eat their children like some animals did? Or did they abandon their children as babies with no clear explanation, leaving them to question their self-worth and ability to form good and lasting relationships for the rest of their lives?

Good questions for a later online research binge. Point was, she was starting to think Jaune was even worse than Ruby.

"D-don't look at me like t-that," she whimpered, dragging the edge of her blankets up to cover her mouth. "I-I'm fine. I-it's your fault I'm like this. The n-negative attitude is counteracting my awesome h-healing power."

"Doesn't seem that awesome if all it takes to defeat is one little _me_ ," Jaune said. "Yang, please start taking this seriously. I'm getting really worried here. Should I be getting you to a doctor or something?"

"No! No doctors! I already went to one and all he gave me was some stupid medicine!" Yang exclaimed. "I'm telling you, all I need is time! This virus thing is nothing I can't handle. Y-you know how my Semblance works, I take all the damage upfront and then I…"

A sneeze interrupted her, and she felt herself unable to talk afterwards, her head feeling light as a balloon.

"I don't think your Semblance can help you with this kinda thing, Yang," Jaune said sadly.

She glared obtusely at her nose. "T-then I'll just have to do all the heavy l-lifting myself…"

Jaune rubbed his eyes, as if that was the best alternative to grabbing her by the throat and shaking her. "You're almost as bad as Weiss."

"S-start comparing me to the I-Ice Queen and things are gonna get real awkward…"

Jaune got up and went to the kitchen, and returned a minute later with a glass of water and the bottle with her medicine. Yang balked when she saw the latter, and got even queasier when he dropped three pills on his palm and offered them to her. She pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"Yang…" Jaune's jaw dropped in shock. "Have you not been taking your medicine?"

Yang rolled on the couch, turning her back to him.

"Yang! No wonder you're only getting worse!" Jaune said angrily, towering over her now. "What the hell were you thinking? This could get really bad, like, you could…" He didn't finish his sentence. "Just… _why_?"

"Because it's awful!" Yang shouted, and her throat flared painfully.

"What, it's not the right flavor?" Jaune asked incredulously.

"I wasn't boasting before about my Semblance, okay?" Yang whirled around and somehow got herself to sit up, even as her whole body screamed in protest. "I don't get sick easy. It's only happened once before, and it was just as bad as this, and nothing the doctors gave me was working out, so they had to resort to the harder stuff…"

She gestured at the pills angrily.

"That kinda thing is not meant for people to take to fight the sniffles, Jaune. It's _bad_ ," she said. "It really scared Ruby."

Jaune covered the pills with his fist, and was silent for a long time, his thoughts far away.

"Okay… I get what you're saying," he said finally. "But Ruby's not here to be scared anymore. It's just me, and I can take care of you if things get bad. So you don't have to be scared either."

Yang hugged her arms, shivering under the blankets.

"Look, either you take this, and it will be scary," Jaune said, his voice hard. "Or you don't, and Ruby gets back and finds you in an even worse condition – or she _doesn't_. You really wanna do that to your sister?"

Oh, if she was at full strength, she would have sent him barreling to the Tower's first floor. Unfortunately, she wasn't, hence their conversation.

"You're stupid. And a jerk. And you have the fashion sense of a traffic cone," she mumbled. "Give me the meds."

Jaune handed her the pills and watched her put them each in her mouth, then offered her the glass of water. Yang breathed in shakily, and took a big sip. As she gulped, the fear and anxiousness exploded into new heights, and she almost cried.

"…You seem fine," Jaune said.

Yang glared at him. He didn't know a thing.

* * *

Or maybe he did. Twenty four hours later, after two more doses of the worst pills ever created in the history of Remnant, Yang was feeling… okay. Relatively. She still had slight shivers, and her head hurt like a baby elephant had stepped on it, but the coughing and sneezing had lessened somewhat. She could even stand and walk around for a while.

"You know what?" she said as they sat in the kitchen, partaking in another batch of soup, which had turned just as pleasant as the first. "I was kinda boasting before, but I think I'll actually be able to go on our Grimm-slaying adventure."

"You sure about that?" Jaune asked cautiously. "No offense, Yang, but you don't look like you're fully recovered yet."

"Yeah, I still got a ways to go, but…" She raised a finger. "We've got another eight hours to go before the Breach, right? So I'll take one more dose now, and then I'll be fit for battle."

"Well, if you're that confident…" Jaune shrugged. "But remember what you promised Ruby. You're not going unless you're one hundred percent well."

"Yup."

Feeling bold, Yang took her bottle of medicine and tossed three pills in her mouth, then swallowed them with a spoonful of soup.

"I'm gonna finish this, and then I'll take a nap to get back my strength," she said. "You wake me up when it's time to go, hear me? I gotta take a bath too, before. And get my hair in order. I stink." She fixed her eyes on him. "You _hear me_ , Jauney boy?"

"Sure, I'll wake you up," Jaune said.

"You'd better, if you know what's good for you."

* * *

"Hey. Hey, Yang. Psst!"

Yang's eyes fluttered open. She lay on her back for a moment, staring into the darkness, before she sat up and looked around.

"Jaune?" she called.

"No. Me. Down here."

Yang looked at the foot of the sofa and saw Zwei staring up at her, his ears perked up and his tail wiggling agitatedly behind him.

"I think I ate a bird, Yang," he said. "It was salty."

"Zwei?" Yang said, her voice infinitely small. "You can talk?"

"Yes, but I can't hear very well," Zwei said. "You have to clean my ears."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought Jaune did that for you already," Yang said. "Just wait a moment and I'll clean them, okay?"

"Whatever," Zwei scoffed. "I'll be in the bathroom."

With that, he stood up on his hinds legs and walked away, an indignant look on his face.

"Oh, man. I hope he doesn't keep a grudge," Ruby said, sitting beside her on the sofa. "Also, I hope he meant the bathroom as in, the bathroom, and not my room. You know he can be a little trickster sometimes."

Yang blinked. "Ruby? When did you get here?"

"I dunno. I have superspeed. If you think about it, I kinda am everywhere at once," Ruby said. She raised a hand, and a box of pizza popped into existence on it. "Here, I just got this for you. I heard anchovies are good for warding off sickness, bad feelings, and abandonment issues."

"Okay…" Yang said slowly. "Don't know why you mentioned that last part…"

Ruby shrugged, and disappeared.

"Oh, I get it now."

Suddenly, the ground shook, and Yang jumped to her feet, startled. Something gold and red passed by the living room's windows.

"The heck was that?" she asked, to no one in particular.

"It was _her_ ," Jaune whispered, hiding under the table. "She wants to have grandkids with me."

Yang's question was answered before she even asked it, as the gold and red thing reappeared outside the tower. The figure lowered itself until two giant green eyes were peering inside the apartment, like a hunter searching for its prey.

"Yang, have you seen Jaune, by any chance?" Pyrrha asked. "I want to have grandkids with him."

"Oh… I, uh…" Yang gave Jaune a glance, then smiled at Pyrrha. "Nope, sorry. Grandkids, you say? Don't you think you're moving a little too fast?"

"Well, obviously we're gonna have _kids_ first," Pyrrha said. "I thought that was obvious."

"Not really my point, but all the power to you, girl," Yang said. "Anyway, he's not here, but I hope you find him."

Pyrrha looked sad for a moment, before her mouth widened with a smile. Jaune had poked his head out for just a brief instant, yet it had been time enough for her to catch sight of him. Pyrrha took a step back and grabbed the top of the Tower, ripping it from the rest of the building.

"Sorry for the damage, Yang!" Pyrrha bellowed. She flicked the table away, then plucked Jaune off the floor and deposited him on her shoulder. "I've got to be going now, but I'll make sure to invite you to the honeymoon."

"That's really not nece– wait, did you say honeymoon?" Yang's eyes widened. "Don't you mean wedding?"

Pyrrha turned around and started walking away, crossing the city with booming steps.

"Pyrrha, wait! I am so confused!" Yang shouted after her. "Did you really mean honeymoon? Would I have to interact with Jaune? These are very important questions!"

But Pyrrha was already gone from sight, which was very peculiar considering her size.

Yang fell back on the sofa and stared up at the sky. This sure had been a wild five minutes. Or hours? She wasn't sure.

Aaaand it didn't seem like it would be getting any less wild anytime soon. As she stared at the night sky, it seemed to become darker and darker, the stars disappearing one by one, and then the moon was gone too. Only a vast seat of black remained, and it seemed to be growing closer.

Or rather, it was her that was getting closer to the sky. She had left the sofa and was flying towards the stratosphere – towards space – and the air around her was starting to burn. Or was it her?

It was her. _She_ was burning, a living comet, a shining sun in the shape of a human.

She hit the clouds, and when she came out the other side, it wasn't into space. No, she was somewhere cold now, a blizzard raging around her. She crossed the strange realm like a rocket, leaving a melted trail behind her.

And then she was in a fiery landscape. Lava flowed all around her, and flaming chucks of rock rained from the sky.

She hit the surface of a lake and barreled through it, the water making her eyes sting. A lush jungle awaited on the other side, the leaves of its trees bright as fire. Suddenly, she wasn't flying anymore, and she hit the ground on her knees.

She looked up and saw something flying towards her – a being of black wings and red eyes – closer and closer it came, until it was all that she could see – and it-

* * *

Yang sat up, screaming.

She jumped to her feet and ran to the kitchen, where she turned on the sink and threw handfuls of water in her mouth. She splashed her face, then stumbled back, leaning on the wall behind her. Her heart was pumping so fast her chest hurt.

She managed to find a chair and sit down on it, and slowly, her senses came back to her. Just as her heartbeat slowed, Jaune walked into the kitchen, a frazzled look on his face.

"Holy crap, Yang. Was that you that screamed?" he asked, rubbing his forehead. "Scared the hell out of me."

"Who else would it be? Zwei?" Yang said, and her breath hitched. "Wait, where's that dog?"

As if summoned, Zwei barged into the kitchen, panting. Yang crouched before him and held his mouth open to examine his teeth.

"No feathers," she muttered. "Good. Good."

Jaune blinked. "Do I even wanna ask?"

Yang got up and beat the dirt off her knees. "Sorry. I just had a bad dream, is all. Probably because of the stupid medicine you forced me to take."

"I didn't _force_ you to take it, but okay," Jaune said. "Speaking of. You seem to be doing better."

Yang looked down at herself and nodded. He wasn't wrong. She could still fell a tiny aftermath of the virus, but overall, she felt refreshed. Strong. Maybe even enough to lift a truck or two.

"Huh. Guess it worked, after all," Yang said. "Just in time for us to- wait, why do you have your sword?"

She had missed it before due to how agitated she'd been, but Jaune's sword was slung around his torso, its hilt peaking over his left shoulder. And he was wearing his Huntsman armor, too.

"Uh… I was… practicing?" he said.

"Jaune, what time is it?" Yang walked back to the living room and looked out the window. The sun was high up in the sky, but she could tell it would soon be coming down again. "Oh my God, did I miss the Breach? Did you go all by yourself?"

"Kinda?" Jaune said, standing behind her. Zwei came over to stand before his feet, as if to protect him from her wrath.

"You idiot, why didn't you wake me up?!" Yang exclaimed.

"I did wake you up. Don't you remember?" Jaune frowned. "You were in a really bad shape. Like, _trashing around in your sleep_ bad. There was no way you were going out to fight, so I gave you more of the medicine."

Yang balled her fists.

"You are such a… a…" She tried to find a way to express how much of an idiot she thought he was, but no word gave him justice. "We were supposed to cover each other's backs. You could have gotten seriously hurt!"

"And you _would have_ gotten seriously hurt if I had let you come with me in that state," Jaune said. "Be mad at me all you want, Yang, I'm not gonna apologize for protecting you!"

"Oh, go protect your butthole!" Yang shouted, and marched off to her room, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

After a long shower and a good bout of pacing in her room, Yang cooled down somewhat. And as the anger left her, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of remorse. Or a lot.

Definitely a lot of remorse.

Swallowing her pride, Yang came out of her room and went to find Jaune. He was in the living room, having discarded his sword and changed into more casual clothes. He had a controller in his hands, and his eyes were trained on the TV.

Yang sat beside him, tapping her fingers awkwardly on her lap. "Hey…"

"Hey," Jaune responded sharply, not looking at her.

"So…" She cleared her throat. "Things got a little heated before… Or, uh, I got a little heated… I shouldn't have screamed at you like that. Sorry."

Jaune didn't reply for a moment, and Yang feared making peace with him wouldn't be so easy as just offering a meager apology. She couldn't fault him for being cross at her, either. She had given him a lot of trouble over the past days, and he'd just fought a horde of Grimm all by himself because of her stubbornness.

But then his lips twitched a little, and he released a deep sigh. "It's okay. I'm not mad at you anymore."

"You're not?" Yang perked up.

"No…" He paused his game and put down the controller. "I may have overstepped a boundary, giving you those pills you hate. I figured you were just exaggerating, but you seemed pretty freaked out earlier, so…"

"Yeah, I saw… I don't know what I saw. It was some scary stuff, though," she said. "But… the pills did heal me. So, despite everything, I think taking them was worth it, and I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't convinced me. So, thanks for that."

"Still." Jaune shrugged uncomfortably. "I, uh, I used to have to take care of my little sisters a lot when there was no else home. I had to deal with a lot of snotty noses in my time, and most of them weren't very grateful for my attention." He paused. "I think I slipped into big bro mode with you. Sorry."

"I know how it is. I had to take care of Ruby too," Yang said. "It's okay. I'm glad you were there for me."

Jaune smiled at her, then resumed playing. Yang raised an eyebrow at him. Well, that had been easy. Maybe she'd been worrying over nothing.

"So, the Breach," she said. "How did it go? Got a few scrapes on you?"

"It was no biggie," Jaune said nonchalantly. "You know, just a few Beowolves. And Ursas. And those scorpion thingies, what are they called again?"

"Death Stalkers?" Yang said, humoring him with a smile.

"Yeah, those. Also Boarbatusks," he said. "Oh, and a King Taijitu."

"Wooow. And you took them _all by yourself_ , huh?" Yang whistled. "Such a brave man. You know, some people would say such a heroic act deserves a big reward. You know what I'm saying?"

Jaune fumbled with the controller, his eyes flying from the screen to her and back to the screen.

"So I'll bake you a cake!" Yang clapped her hands. "Like the wonderful sister I am!"

Jaune sighed, seeming equally relieved and embarrassed. Yang took a mental note of that. _Interesting_.

"Now, let me have a turn," Yang said, grabbing the controller off his hands.

"But I'm in the middle of a boss fight!" Jaune complained.

"Tough luck, bro," Yang said. "This girl's been at death's door for days. Time to have some fun!"

* * *

 **You hadn't forgotten about this story, had you?**

 **This was a fun little chapter to write. It's so relaxing to write stuff that doesn't involve people being in stressful and life-and-death situations all the time... And that doesn't mean I can't get serious with it anyway. Not to mention the opportunity to slip in some foreshadowing here and there...**

 **I hope you guys liked reading the chapter as much I liked writing it.**

 **-Zeroan**


	4. Let's talk about family

"You really don't have any siblings, though?"

Cinder sighed. "Yes, Ruby. I really don't," she said. "Why, do you think I would lie to you?"

"Uh, now that you say that, yeah, probably," Ruby said.

"Then what's the point of us talking, if you're not going to believe anything I say?" Cinder scoffed. "You're wasting your time. Not that we didn't establish that right away."

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. Why did Cinder have to be so difficult all the time?

"I guess if you had any siblings, Beacon would probably know about it already and have it in their files, so you're probably telling the truth," Ruby said.

Cinder raised an eyebrow at her. "You're telling me you read my file?"

"Heck no. Why would I do something so boring?"

Cinder gave no response to that, probably because she had none. Or if she did, it likely wasn't very friendly. Not that that hadn't stopped her from speaking her mind in the past…

"What about your parents?" Ruby asked.

"What about them?" Cinder replied.

Ruby shrugged. "Were they good parents?"

"They were nobodies. I barely remember them," Cinder said. "Why are you so interested in my family all of a sudden?"

"I want to understand you," Ruby said. "And family is important. So…"

Cinder looked away, her eyes sharp as knives. "Not to me, it isn't. I'm afraid you'll have to reconsider your approach."

"Hmm. If you say so." Ruby pursed her lips, deep in thought. "What's your favorite ice cream flavor, then?"

Cinder pinched her forehead. "If I had to choose? Murder. With a splash of profound contempt for stupid questions."

"Right," Ruby hummed. "That was my first guess."


	5. That time Blake swept Ruby off her feet

**TALES FROM THE HUNT TOWER**

"That time Blake swept Ruby off her feet"

 **Setting:** after **Blake Belladonna: The Face of Vacuo**

* * *

"You know, Yang…" Ruby said. "There is such a thing as having _too many_ balloons in a single room." She looked around at the multicolored balloons that occupied pretty much every surface of the Tower's living room. "Actually, I'm pretty sure this is turning into a safety hazard."

"Maybe. But you know what's an even worse safety hazard?" Yang stopped hanging balloons for a moment and hopped over to her sister. "An ungrateful birthday girl."

From seemingly nowhere, Yang produced a party horn and blew it on Ruby's face, then stepped back with a smug look on her face. Ruby rolled her eyes, yet she couldn't help but smile at her sister's antics.

"Yang, it's not that I don't appreciate what you and the others are doing for my birthday-"

"Excuse me, _the others_? I'm doing most of the work," Yang said, hands on her hips. "The party would turn out a mess if I weren't overseeing everything."

Ruby thought Pyrrha and Weiss, and maybe even Blake, would have done just fine organizing the party, but she chose not to challenge Yang's ego on that front.

"Alright. I'm really grateful about everything _you're_ doing, Yang," Ruby said. "It's just that maybe you're doing _too much_ , you know?"

"I _don't_ know. I thought you liked being spoiled on your birthday," Yang said, eyes narrowing. "I remember the tantrums you used to throw when you thought you weren't getting enough attention. _Vividly_."

"That was a really, really long time ago!" Ruby puffed up her chest. "I'm getting old now, and I don't need big parties anymore."

"Trust me, tonight's party will be nothing compared to some ragers I've been to," Yang said, and pulled Ruby close, passing an arm around her shoulders and gesturing at the room. "And it's exactly _because_ you're getting old that this needs to be big. You only turn eighteen once, and from there it's all downhill – suddenly you've got gray in your hair, your back aches all the time, you start worrying you're going to die loveless and alone…"

Ruby frowned. "Jeez, Yang, you're only two years older than me."

"Don't remind me!" Yang slapped Ruby's arm lightly. "Now chin up, 'cause tonight will be the best night of your life. I'll make sure of it." She gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek. "You remember the plan, right?"

Ruby felt herself blush, and with a lump in her throat, the only way she could respond was with an anxious nod.

"'Course you do, you sly devil you." Yang winked at her, then started walking away. "I'm gonna check up on Jaune and Pyrrha in the kitchen, make sure nothing's caught on fire."

With Yang gone, Ruby allowed herself to plop down on the sofa, one of the few spaces in the living room not occupied by a balloon or bow or any such decorative piece.

Yang was right. Tonight's party would be nothing big. Though it would certainly be a step-up from her previous birthdays, which only her family ever attended, there weren't going to be that many people. Just the team, Weiss included – Yang had made sure to invite her a month prior, not allowing any room for the heiress to claim that she didn't have the time to visit.

Ruby had thought about inviting Miss Goodwitch, but figured that she would have felt out of place at such an event – and Yang would have surely objected to having an _adult_ amongst them too. So Ruby would be having lunch with her next week. That would be fun. Same story with Dad, although they hadn't worked out the exact date yet.

Penny would be attending for sure, though.

Ruby sank into the sofa. Her cheeks were burning again, and her skin felt very itchy all of a sudden. _The plan_.

Yeah, there definitely was something more to her being anxious about tonight than just feeling like she was getting too much attention…

Luckily, the beep of the elevator arriving on their floor saved her from those nerve-wrecking thoughts, and she rose from the sofa to see Weiss and Blake enter the room, plastic bags in hands.

"Hello, Ruby. We have returned from our task," Weiss said loftily. She hadn't been shy about how she felt about Yang recruiting her to help with the party, citing several times that no good host would ever demand such _arduous work_ from an invited guest. "Where's your sister, now?"

"In the kitchen," Ruby said, and turned around to shout in that direction. "Yang, Weiss and Blake are back!"

"Coming!" came Yang's response shortly after.

Ruby turned back to Weiss, smiling widely at her. Reservations about the party put aside, she was beyond excited about Weiss' presence. She'd rarely shown up at the Tower since the team had moved in, so it was a treat to have her here now.

"Are you feeling okay, Ruby?" Blake asked, stepping past her to put her bags down on a table.

"Huh?" Ruby rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and smiled at Blake. "I'm fine, why?"

"You just looked a bit flushed when we came in," Blake said. She looked Ruby up and down, then shrugged. "Must have been my imagination."

Yang emerged from the kitchen and looked over Blake's items, nodding approvingly at what she saw. She then moved over to Weiss and beckoned her to hand over her bags, and after a roll of her eyes, Weiss relented.

"Weiss, I thought I told you to get beer," Yang said, holding back a sigh. "Why did you bring wine instead?"

"No, what you _told me_ was to get _the alcohol_ ," Weiss said. "Therefore, I procured the highest quality products money can buy – at least in Vale, that is – and that turned out to be, obviously, wine."

"Alright, I did tell you to get the alcohol," Yang said. "But I thought I was being clear about what I wanted. Blake, why didn't you stop her?"

Blake gave Weiss a glance, then raised an eyebrow at Yang. "As if I could."

"She did convince me to get _some_ beer, though. Not a lot, mind you. It's in the other bag," Weiss said. " _Beer_." She grimaced, like she'd rather stick a dirty shoe in a blender and put the results in a bottle instead.

Yang shook her head at the heiress, but her protests ended there, as she crouched to inspect the contents of the second bag with higher appreciation. Seemingly satisfied that there would be no greater conflict, Blake moved to the sofa and sat down to read a book.

"I don't get it," Ruby said, looking at Weiss in puzzlement. "I thought you said earlier that you don't drink, Weiss. So what's all the fuzz?"

"I don't consume any kind of alcohol," Weiss said, and her eyes didn't meet Ruby nor anyone else's in the room. A moment later, she seemed to notice the silence and cleared her throat. "But I still know how to recognize quality."

"Huh." Ruby put her hands behind her back and leaned towards Weiss. "Is that why you consider me your bestest friend in the world, then?"

Weiss scoffed at her, though the corners of her lips did quirk up a bit.

"Alright, this isn't much, but I guess it will be good enough for tonight," Yang said, rising to her feet.

"It's probably best everyone doesn't drink too much, anyway," Weiss noted. "We wouldn't want a crisis to happen and for half the team to be compromised, yes?"

"Weiss, why would you say something like that? You just jinxed everything!" Yang exclaimed. "Now it's only a matter of time until-"

Before she could finish her sentence, an alarm started to ring across the apartment. Ruby jumped to attention, while Yang turned to Weiss with a fist half-raised – but then the alarm stopped and Jaune poked his head out of the kitchen, his nose and cheeks powdered white.

"Uh, sorry about that," he mumbled. "We had a little accident with the oven. Yang, help us out, please?"

"Coming." Yang pointed at finger at Weiss. "You're on my short list, lady."

Yang left for the kitchen, and Weiss excused herself to her room.

Ruby wiped her forehead and sighed. For a moment there, while the alarm sounded, she'd almost felt relieved that the party was going to have to be called off. It was a sad day when she found fighting Grimm an easier prospect than…

Well, just thinking about the other thing was starting to make her anxious again, so she chose not to – and so the hour of her doom ticked ever nearer…

* * *

Blake put her bottle down for a moment and leaned back on her stool, observing the ongoing party from a comfortable corner of the room. Things were certainly lively, though not so much that she was uncomfortable.

Yang was being her usual cheerful self, jokes and japes abound and amplified by the drinks she'd already downed. Jaune was following her lead, and to Blake's surprise, he was holding his own fairly well. Sometime earlier, they had made an unspoken agreement to focus their antics on Weiss, but to her credit, she wasn't giving them the satisfaction they wanted.

Pyrrha was more subdued, though she wasn't shy at all. In fact, her cheeks were getting a little red, and she seemed to be sticking closer to Jaune the longer the night went on. Not that he noticed it in the slightest. Blake wanted to reach across the room and punch him in the neck, but that wouldn't have been very subtle.

Lastly, there was Penny. If she was being honest, Blake didn't know what to think of the girl, except that she was a little weird – which was saying a lot, with the company she kept. Though she supposed some weirdness was to be expected, what with Penny being a robot. That she could pass off as a normal human girl at all was a testament to her… design?

Blake rubbed her forehead. Her life was weird. And she needed another drink.

She leaned over to grab her bottle from the floor, only to notice Ruby coming out of the hallway. Blake sat back up and leaned back against the wall, watching from the corner of her eyes as her team leader hovered at the edge of the party, wringing her hands at her waist.

Ruby hadn't been _absent_ from the party, not exactly. It was _her party_ , after all. But Blake had noticed that she hadn't been in the thick of things, so to speak, choosing instead to hang just outside the spotlight, stealing brief one-on-one conversations with the others and withdrawing before anything more could take place.

She talked with everyone at least once, except for Penny. Which was intriguing, Blake thought, considering that Penny was there _because_ she was Ruby's friend. Very intriguing, indeed.

Blake started to think that perhaps she should call Ruby close and ask her about it, but before she could put thought to action, Yang parted from the others and walked briskly over to Ruby, eyes glinting with delight.

"There she is," Yang said, rubbing her hands like a mischievous imp. "Tonight's girl. You ready and set to go, sis?"

"Uh… I'm not sure," Ruby said awkwardly, taking a small step backward, about to retreat into the hallway again. "You know, maybe I need to fix myself up a bit more, just to make sure-"

"No, no. You're perfect as you are," Yang said, cupping Ruby's cheeks. "You know you're perfect, right?"

Ruby looked away. "I guess…"

"That's right, you are. _But_ ," Yang leaned in to whisper to Ruby, and if Blake weren't a faunus, she would have missed that part of the conversation. "You sure you wanna go forward with the plan? Because, Ruby, you can always pull out if you're not up to it."

Yang sounded understanding, but she _looked_ so hopeful and excited that even Blake didn't want to disappoint her, and she didn't even understand what the hell was going on. Ruby clearly felt the pressure too, though it seemed Yang didn't notice it.

"I-I'm good…" Ruby nodded. "I can do this. I'm gonna do this!"

"That's the spirit." Yang patted Ruby on the back and pushed her towards the party. "Go get 'er, tiger."

Ruby took a few hesitant steps forward, paused for a moment, then continued with new strength. Blake sipped her beer, watching with great interest.

* * *

Ruby approached the center of the room, stopping quietly near the couch and chairs that everyone but Yang and Blake were occupying. The conversation was lively, with Penny as the center of attention, which Ruby wasn't at all surprised by. It wasn't every day that you met a robot girl, so some curiosity was to be expected.

Jaune in particular seemed fascinated by Penny, like she was a character who had jumped straight out of a comic book. Luckily, she didn't seem bothered by his enthusiasm, in fact, she seemed happy to answer all his questions. Ruby let herself rest easy – or as easy as she could rest under the circumstances.

"Is it true that you can fly?" Jaune said. "Like, as fast as a jet? You could cross a whole ocean, right? Ruby told me something like that once, I think."

"Yes to all your questions, Jaune Arc," Penny said proudly. "Although recently, with new upgrades pertaining to my energy output and thrusters, I've been able to surpass my original speed benchmarks. If necessary, I can break the sonic barrier, although that is not recommended due to possible damage to nearby living creatures and the surrounding environment. It would be very foolish for me to do so in a city setting, for example." She giggled. "Also, it makes my shoulders a bit creaky for some period of time afterward. I always choose to go slower if I can afford to."

"Like the opposite of someone we know," Pyrrha said, grinning at Ruby.

"Oh, Ruby is still much faster than me overall! She has better maneuverability, and her Semblance doesn't require nearly as much energy to maintain as my flight," Penny said. She looked up, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "However, I imagine she must intake a lot of proteins to keep herself so powerful."

"Is that true?" Jaune looked at Ruby doubtfully. "I thought you just liked to eat a lot."

"Well, one thing doesn't cancel the other," Ruby said sheepishly.

"Guess chocolate cookies must be great Semblance fuel, then," Jaune said. "I should start eating those more. Maybe I could turn into an invulnerable tank!"

Penny giggled. "You are funny, Jaune Arc. All of you, Ruby's friends, are as lovely as she relayed to me," she said. "Even you, Miss Schnee."

She smiled at Weiss, who replied with an expression that, if Ruby were being generous, she would describe as impassive.

"So, let me get this straight," Weiss said. "General Ironwood had you built by a team of engineers?"

"Only one engineer, my father," Penny said. "He is great!"

"Mhmm. And you were built to… protect the world?"

"That is my prime directive, yes." Penny nodded eagerly.

"Which is why you were sent to spy on Ruby." Weiss crossed her arms. "And you've got a Dust Core in your chest. The same technology that Cinder Fall used to nearly destroy Vale, and that Beacon regulates like they're weapons of mass destruction. Am I correct?"

Penny studied Weiss for a moment, as if analyzing the possible intent behind her words.

"Correct on all counts, Miss Schnee," Penny said, and smiled again. "I assure you, I keep my Dust Core safe like my life depends on it. Which it absolutely does! If I were a real girl, my Dust Core would be my heart, and those are fundamental to uninterrupted living and breathing."

Weiss didn't appear too satisfied with that response, looking at Penny with icy eyes, and Ruby rubbed her arms worriedly. She understood why Weiss would be uneasy around Penny, what with her history with Dust Cores, but that attitude was very unfair to Penny – Weiss might know _what_ she was, but she had no idea _who_ Penny was.

Luckily, Weiss let the topic go at that, sitting back in her chair and looking longingly at the empty glass she'd kept nearby since the evening's start. Ruby perked up, recognizing a chance to make her move with the lull in the conversation… But as soon as she opened her mouth, she suddenly felt all of her confidence drain away, and she drew back in silence.

"So anyway, Penny," Jaune said. "I heard you can shoot lasers?"

Ruby smacked herself in the cheek. What was she doing? This was her opportunity, the moment she'd been planning for with Yang for days, she couldn't just let it pass because she felt nervous!

"Actually, can I borrow Penny for a second, guys?" Ruby said, hopping closer to the couch. "I wanna talk to her about something."

"But, but… Lasers, Ruby," Jaune said sadly. "Can't you talk to her here?"

Ruby opened and closed her mouth awkwardly, while Penny gave her a curious look. She _could_ talk to Penny right now and right there, technically speaking, nothing was stopping her, but…

"I think Ruby wants to talk to Penny _alone_ , Jaune," Pyrrha said gracefully. "Understand?"

"Huh?" Jaune glanced at Ruby and Penny, then coughed and looked away. "R-right. Sorry, I'm a bit slow with that stuff."

"Yes, we are all aware," Weiss said dryly from her chair.

Grateful for Pyrrha's intervention, Ruby gestured to Penny and moved away from the group. Penny followed her, and they stopped near the windows, which gave a beautiful view of nightly Vale from above.

The plan had been to take Penny somewhere more private, but just thinking about talking with Penny in her room was inviting in a miniature nervous breakdown, so this would have to do instead. It was kinda awkward to do this in view of everyone, but…

Wait, where was everyone? Ruby looked back at the room, startled to see the entire team was gone. How had they disappeared so fast? This had to be Yang's work, that devil-

"Are you wondering where your friends have gone?" Penny asked, hands behind her back. "I believe they've moved to the kitchen. I can hear them talking about a cake."

"O-oh. C-cake, yeah, that's an important part of any b-birthday," Ruby said. "Do you, uh, do you like cake, Penny?"

"Well, the act of eating cake would be very harmful to my internal hardware, but I would likely enjoy the taste if I were to run a simulation!" Penny said.

"R-right! How silly of me, f-forget I said that!" Ruby swallowed dry. "S-sorry if I'm s-stuttering too bad. I'm awful…"

"I can understand you perfectly, friend, please do not worry about it," Penny said. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about away from the presence of your closest friends and family?"

Penny leaned forward slightly, and Ruby was once again startled by how human-like Penny could act sometimes. Other people might not notice it, but she was a far cry from the strange girl Ruby had met six months ago. It might not even be an act anymore, especially when it was just the of them talking.

Yeah, Penny was definitely becoming more human. She was looking at Ruby like she knew exactly what she wanted to say, but instead of helping her out, she was just waiting, and with a hint of anxiousness on her own face too. A complete robot would act way more straightforwardly than this, surely!

"I, uh… You s-see," Ruby said, her mind going blankly. Yang had helped her pick out the right words in a way to show Penny how she felt, but those seemed to have vanished from her memory now.

Penny frowned, and Ruby took a step back, feeling herself starting to shake all over. God, this was not going to work out. What she was doing? How had she allowed things to get to this point? This had all been a terrible idea, and she needed to go…

"Ruby, I detect you are in great distress," Penny said. "Should I call your sister?"

Ruby shuddered. Perhaps Penny should call a doctor instead, because she was about to _faint_.

Out of nowhere, an arm snaked around her shoulders, and Ruby felt someone leaning into her. Ruby looked to the side and was startled to find Blake there.

"Hey, there," Blake said, raising her other hand, the one not on Ruby's shoulder. She had a half-empty beer in it, which she took a quick sip from, before she spoke again. "Can I take Ruby away from you for a quick sec, Penny? I need to give her her birthday present."

"Oh." Penny blinked. "Yes, that is fine. No problem here."

"Thanks." Blake took another sip, then dropped her bottle entirely.

Blake tried to pull Ruby away, but she was still frozen in distress from the earlier conversation. Blake inspected her dully for a moment, then shrugged and crouched a little, striking the back of Ruby's knees and knocking her out, only to catch her in her arms as she fell.

Blake stood back up and met Penny's eyes, and for a good ten seconds, they just stared at each other in sheer silence.

"Sorry," Blake said finally. "I have a thing for redheads."

She walked away without another word, carrying Ruby in her arms bridal style.

* * *

Blake dropped Ruby on her bed unceremoniously, gave her a swift once-over, then walked back to the door of her room and closed. After some hazy consideration, she locked it and turned around, pressing her back against the wooden surface.

She looked at the bed and raised an eyebrow at Ruby, noticing that she had crawled into the corner and was looking at Blake like she was about to jump across the room and bite off her head.

"You okay there, Ruby?" Blake said.

Ruby opened her mouth to talk, but only a distressed squeak came out. Blake took a step towards the bed, and Ruby jumped in fright.

"A-are you going to have your way with me?!" Ruby shrieked. "Is that my birthday present?!"

Blake grimaced. She really wished the others hadn't heard that from the kitchen, Yang in particular.

"I'm not going to have my way with you, Ruby." Blake paused. "Unless you want me to?"

"N-no, I don't!" Ruby squealed. "I mean, not that you're not, you know, and I wouldn't, but-"

"I'm just messing with you," Blake said, grinning. "I actually have your birthday present here. Wait a second while I get it."

Blake opened her wardrobe and crouched to retrieve a box from the bottom. Yang had warned everyone that Ruby really liked receiving birthdays gifts, and she had a terrible habit of finding and opening them before the appropriate time. Blake had assumed she'd been exaggerating at first, but when Ruby turned up at the breakfast table earlier in the week with a stack of comics Jaune was _going to_ give her, Blake thought twice about it and hid her gift better.

She opened the box, pushed aside an assortment of black fabrics, and retrieved the wrapped item hidden beneath. Standing up, Blake walked over to the bed and handed the gift over silently.

Ruby stared up at Blake, still suspicious of a surprise attack, before her excitement got to her and she tore apart the package to reveal a stack of three books.

"Ooh! Books!" Ruby smiled. "I love books!"

"I know," Blake said. "These are some of my favorites. I think you'll enjoy them very much."

"Thanks, Blake!" Ruby leaned over to give Blake a hug, then settled back into the bed. "Why are you giving me my gift now, though? You could have done it earlier, or waited to do it with everyone else."

"I had a feeling you might need help getting away from things tonight," Blake said. And she had been right. Ruby had looked about ready to pass out in the living room.

Ruby was silent for a moment, studying the books' covers, though Blake could tell that was not what she was really thinking about. Blake climb onto the bed and dragged herself over to the other end of it, leaning against a wall.

"You can hide in here for a while if you want," Blake said.

"Don't you wanna get back to the party?" Ruby asked softly. "I don't wanna keep you here…"

"I like the quiet," Blake said. "Also, I might have had a couple beers too many."

Ruby giggled. Blake closed her eyes, hearing the soft rustling of pages as Ruby started one of her new books.

* * *

Weiss flicked her finger on the edge of her glass. She gave a sideways look towards where Yang and Jaune were hanging out and groaned quietly. Could they be any louder and more scandalous? They were bad enough normally, but with the added boost of alcohol they were intolerable. Another hour of this and Weiss might just be forced to commit a heinous crime.

She looked at her glass again. Wouldn't _that_ make things so much easier…

Weiss heard a squeaking of shoes, and when she looked up, she saw Pyrrha sitting down in a chair in front of her. She had one of the wine bottles Weiss had bought in one hand, with a glass full of its content in the other.

"This is good stuff, Weiss," Pyrrha said. "You weren't lying when you said you have a good eye for these things."

"Of course I wasn't lying," Weiss said, allowing herself some degree of smugness. "I'm glad you appreciate my contribution. _Someone_ has to."

"I haven't had much experience with alcoholic drinks, to be honest. The Beacon lifestyle didn't really give me room for this sort of thing," Pyrrha said. "But now things are different. And I'm happy to say that, between yours and Yang's, I much prefer your taste."

Pyrrha raised her glass a bit and took a sip. Weiss smiled at her, and took a moment to look at Yang and Jaune, the latter in particular.

"Got tired of waiting for him to get the hint?" Weiss asked.

Pyrrha flushed mid-sip, but to her credit, she managed to swallow her drink without an incident. She put her glass down on her lap and looked towards Jaune.

"I guess," Pyrrha said tiredly, like she had competed in a ten-mile marathon and placed dead last. "Maybe I've been clinging too much."

"I think the problem's with him, Pyrrha. You can't help it that Jaune's this oblivious. It's egregious, really," Weiss said. "Although, I suppose there's a problem with you too, now that I think about it."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked, frowning.

"I just can't see why you would try so hard for him, of all people. Personal issues aside, if you keep throwing yourself at him and he won't even look at you twice, then what's the point?" Weiss said.

"Maybe you have a point," Pyrrha sighed. "But I don't feel about anyone else the way I feel about him. So I can't exactly stop trying, not until he gives me an answer, or I stop feeling that way. It's just not in my nature."

Weiss groaned. "I don't get it. You could choose anyone in the world. Why him?"

"Because it's not a choice. And Jaune's a great guy, and he's my best friend. Even if he rejected me, I would still want to be near him," Pyrrha said, sitting up confidently.

Weiss shrugged. Far be it for her to argue with Pyrrha about her feelings. And she had to admit, Jaune wasn't the _worst_ person in the world. And that was the best compliment she was willing to give him at the moment.

"Do you want some?" Pyrrha said, gesturing at the wine bottle.

"No, thank you," Weiss said. "I don't drink."

"Why do you have a glass, then?"

Weiss sank into her chair. That was a great question, now wasn't it?

"Is there some reason you don't drink, Weiss?" Pyrrha asked.

Weiss' snappy response came almost immediately, though luckily, she managed to hold herself back. Hearing the same question from so many people over the years had conditioned her to answer a certain way, politely at best, coldly most often, and never truthfully.

But she supposed it was different with Pyrrha. She could tell it wasn't mere curiosity that drove the question. Maybe it was wishful thinking, maybe it was Pyrrha using the techniques she'd learned with Beacon to manipulate her, but Weiss felt she could trust her with the truth.

"My family doesn't have a good track record with alcohol," Weiss said, measuring her words carefully. "My parents never got along too well. My father's… He's not a very kind man, and after a while my mother stopped trying to make things work with him. But they didn't separate, _of course_. So instead she turned to drinking. Eventually, she started spending more time with her bottles than her own children."

"I'm really sorry, Weiss," Pyrrha said. "That must have been terrible as a kid."

"It's okay. We were never that close," Weiss said. "She was weak. Instead of trying to fix the problems in her life, she chose to drown them in scarlet. I swore to never act that way. I'm better than that."

Pyrrha nodded. Weiss leaned back, releasing a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"I understand how you feel, and I don't doubt your resolve," Pyrrha said. "But _this_ is just fun." She pointed at her glass. "Simple fun, nothing more. If you are strong – and you are – then you should be able to partake without being defined by it, right?"

Weiss crossed her arms uncomfortably. "I suppose you make a good point." She leered at the bottle, then sighed and extended her glass.

"You don't have to," Pyrrha said. "This really isn't important at all, Weiss."

"I understand." Weiss nodded. "Go ahead."

Pyrrha waited a moment to make sure, then filled Weiss' glass to half-capacity. Weiss held it close to her nose, and the familiar smell provoked a slight shudder. She breathed in deeply, and finally, like an athlete making the jump of a lifetime, she tipped the glass over and took the drink in.

"…Is that it?" she said, almost disappointed.

"You didn't like it?" Pyrrha asked.

"No, it was good," Weiss said. "I don't know what I was expecting."

She took another sip, this time letting the taste linger in her mouth for a while before she swallowed. She licked her lips and looked at the glass, a smile coming to her lips.

This wasn't so bad, after all.

* * *

Ruby lowered her book so she could look at Blake. She was liking the book well enough, but she was finding it difficult to follow the plot. Her thoughts were still with the celebration going on outside, and Penny in particular.

"Blake?" Ruby called softly, not wanting to wake up her friend in case she was sleeping.

Blake opened her eyes slightly.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ruby said. "It might be kinda personal, just so you know."

Blake stretched her arms above her head, arching her back off the wall behind her, then turned to look at Ruby. "Ask it."

"Have you…" Ruby trailed off, thinking how to best to frame her question. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to know, really. "Have you ever been in a relationship?"

If Blake was surprised by the question, she didn't show. "Not really."

"Oh." Ruby looked at her lap, not sure where to go from there.

Blake turned around, sitting cross-legged facing Ruby, and stared at her in her usual silent way. Ruby could never be sure whether Blake was analyzing her with those stares, or she was thinking of something else altogether, or just not thinking of anything at all.

"What made you ask that question?" Blake asked.

"I'm not sure. I wanted to see if you could help me, but I guess you can't," Ruby said. "Sorry."

"Well, I can't promise you expertise, but I can try to help anyway," Blake said. "I may never have been in a relationship, but that doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about romance. I've been the _piner_ and the _pinee_ a couple times in my life."

"I don't think those are real words," Ruby mumbled.

"And I think you're stalling." Blake shrugged. "You wanna talk about Penny?"

Ruby blushed. "W-what is there to talk about? She's, uh, she's cool, yeah…

"Obviously. She's a freaking robot," Blake said.

"She's more than just a robot!" Ruby said. "That's not why I – that's not why she's my best friend."

"Sorry, that was insensitive of me," Blake said. Her eyes narrowed. "What was the _plan_ tonight, by the way?"

Ruby paled. How did Blake know about that? She must have overheard her and Yang talking earlier. Curse those fuzzy cat ears!

"I was… I was going to get Penny alone during the party…" she said, feeling herself grow redder with every word. "And then I was going to tell her how I feel about her… AndthenIwasgoingtomaybekissheralittlebitandaskherifshewantedtobemygirlfriendorsomething."

Blake blinked. It was unclear whether she had been able to follow the last step of the plan.

"The last part was all Yang's idea," Ruby said defensively, just to make sure.

"Sounds like a solid plan," Blake said, remarkably collected. "And the problem was…?"

"The problem was… I d-don't actually know how I feel about Penny. I don't really _understand_ ," Ruby said, getting even more flustered. "Plus, the more I think about – you know – the more worried I get about stuff. Like, I'm a big superhero, how does that work out with her? And she doesn't really age like I do, so…? Besides, we don't really see each other all that often. And, and what if I'm not good enough and I screw things up and she hates me forever and ever-"

Blake raised a finger, and Ruby stopped talking immediately, prepared to be consoled.

"All your worries are valid," Blake said.

Ruby did a double take. "Huh?"

"I said, all your worries are valid," Blake repeated simply. "Love's complicated. You never know what might happen. It might very well be that one of those things you're worried about would ruin a relationship with Penny, or plain make it impossible."

"I… That doesn't make me feel better," Ruby grumbled.

"That's reality," Blake said. " _But_ , you will never find out if you don't take a risk."

"So I _should_ confess to Penny?" Ruby said, her brain about to overload with conflicting information.

"I can't tell you what to do, Ruby." Blake sighed. "It's up to you to decide if you wanna take that leap or not. There's not a right answer. If there is one, I haven't heard about it."

Ruby sat back and crossed her arms. She couldn't deny that what Blake was saying made sense, but she really wished she'd had a simpler, definitive answer for her.

"Do… do you have someone you'd like to be with, Blake?" Ruby asked shyly.

Blake looked at the ceiling, a hint of bitterness coloring her face, and Ruby worried that she might have touched upon something Blake would rather not talk about.

"Yes," Blake said finally, dragging the word out like it was painful.

"Uhm… So if you had the chance, would you try and confess to them?"

"I already did, in a way," Blake said, and when she noticed Ruby's expectant expression, added, "It didn't work out."

"Oh. That's too bad."

That didn't bode well for Ruby's prospects. She knew she shouldn't take Blake's one experience as gospel, but it was a pretty discouraging thing to hear about.

"I would do it all over again, though, if I could," Blake said. "Just on the off chance that things might turn out differently."

Ruby looked at Blake critically. "You're not just saying that to give me hope?"

Blake shook her head. "So," she said. "What are you going to do?"

* * *

"I'm sorry, Ruby," Yang said. "Penny had to leave."

Ruby frowned. "She… had to leave?"

"Yeah. She said something came up, and General Ironwood called her back to Atlas to deal with it. Apparently, he was being a real jerk about it too. She looked really bummed out about it."

Ruby could definitely relate to that.

"But, hey, she asked me to tell you that she wanted to work out a day to visit and make it up to you," Yang said. "You know, kinda like a date. Also, she left her present with me to give to you-"

"Wait, did she actually say the word date?" Ruby blinked. "Like, _date_ , date?"

"Hmm, no, I'm embellishing," Yang said. "Sorry."

Ruby sighed. But she couldn't be too disappointed. Even if Penny didn't mean that kind of date, Ruby would still love to spend some time with her in the near future. A day spent with Penny was always great.

"You'll get her next time," Yang said, patting her on the shoulder. "Now, how about we get to the cake part of the night to cheer you up? And then we can open your presents."

Ruby's face lit up immediately. "I do like getting spoiled!"

"Alright! Just, uh, word of warning, watch out as you're entering the kitchen," Yang said.

"Why…?"

"Weiss puked on the doorway."

"Oh."

"Yeah, we're not letting her forget that one."

* * *

Blake walked across the living room on her way to the kitchen, making sure to step lightly as she passed the knocked-out Yang splayed over on the sofa, and Jaune, who had somehow been comfortable enough to fall asleep on the floor underneath a chair.

She reached the kitchen and went inside, closing the door quietly behind her. Blake flicked on the lights – and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw there was someone else inside already.

"Blake?" Ruby looked up at her, nearly every inch of skin from her chin to her nose covered in strawberry cake. "Why are you still up?"

Blake breathed out heavily, holding her chest as her heartbeat evened out. "I was waiting for everyone to fall asleep so I could eat some of that cake in peace," she said. "Why are _you_ still up?"

"This cake is _really good_ ," Ruby said simply, and returned to eating her current slice voraciously.

Blake shook her head and grabbed herself a plate. There wasn't much cake left, but she managed to scavenge two modest slices, and left the rest for Ruby to finish later.

"How did it work out with Penny, then?" Blake asked, sitting down near Ruby.

"Oh, she had to leave while we were in your room," Ruby said. "But it's okay. She's gonna come by again someday soon."

"I'm sure you'll have better luck then," Blake said.

"Eh. I don't think I'm even gonna try anything." Ruby shrugged. "I'm happy just spending time with my best friend."

Blake nodded. She could relate to that feeling, when you can just be with someone so close to you, without things getting complicated. _Before_ things inevitably get complicated.

She forked a piece of her cake and munched on it. Ruby was right, it was excellent.

"Hey, Blake…" Ruby said. "Since I told you so much personal stuff today, I guess you can tell me who's that person you were talking about earlier, right? Your crush? I mean, it's only fair."

"But _you_ were the one who started that whole debacle. As I see it, I don't owe you anything," Blake said.

"Aw." Ruby pouted. "Can I guess?"

Blake gestured emptily. It's not like she could make Ruby forget about the topic. The best Blake could do was humor her a bit.

"Hmm… Is it a girl?" Ruby asked.

"Yes."

"Ahah! And she must be a redhead, right?" Ruby said knowingly. "Unless you were just messing around when you said that thing before."

"I _was_ messing around, but yes."

"The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Your secret crush must be…" Ruby jumped to her feet on her chair. "Pyrrha!"

Blake chuckled. Ruby had missed her mark by a couple months. "No, she's much shorter than Pyrrha."

"Oh. Shorter, much shorter than Pyrrha… And a redhead…" Ruby's eyes widened. "Wait, you don't actually like _me_ , Blake?"

Blake sighed. "Ruby, you don't know her."

Ruby sat down, disappointed. She ate a bit more of her cake, then looked at Blake again. "Maybe one day I'll get to meet her, though?"

Blake finished her first slice in silence, then smiled at Ruby. It hurt to foster hope, especially about something so precious to her heart, but Ruby had inspired her tonight.

"Absolutely."

* * *

 **What, you thought I was just going to _give you_ Nuts and Dolts? Hah! You know it's never that easy.**

 **This chapter might have some _interesting_ implications for the next RSU story, which should be coming out sometime soon. I'm not saying anything more than that, though!**

 **-Zeroan**


	6. Let's talk about love

"Hey, Cinder," Ruby said. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"All you _do_ is ask me personal questions. And you've never asked permission before." Cinder rolled her eyes. "I can only assume you're feeling strange about this particular question. Correct?"

Ruby raised her hands, guilty as charged.

"Have you ever been with someone?" Ruby asked fast, like ripping off a band-aid.

Cinder looked at her skeptically. "What exactly do you mean, have I been with someone?"

"Like…" Ruby twirled her finger on her thigh awkwardly. "Have you ever had a boyfriend or girlfriend…?"

"No. Finding love has never been a priority of mine, as you might imagine," Cinder said. Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"I – I _don't_! I'm completely – I was expecting that answer, exactly that answer!" Ruby said.

Cinder raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's just…" Ruby swallowed dry. "You're a supervillain, so I thought…"

"Oh, I see. _That's_ what you want to know," Cinder said, smirking. "Ruby Rose, are you trying to _imply_ something?"

"I… You're making stuff up in your mind! My question was very simple and straight-forward and it had no hidden meanings!" Ruby exclaimed. "…But seriously, not even once?"

Cinder leaned back, crossing one leg over the other.

"Loving someone is nothing but a weakness. It will consume your time and take your focus away from the important things, and create vulnerability where there should be none," Cinder said icily. "I am above such things as love."

"I don't know," Ruby said. "To me, that just sounds like a sad, lonely way to live."

Cinder scoffed. "Yes, because it is a lack of love that hurts people. Has _that_ been your experience?"

Mystified by that response, Ruby could only stare at Cinder. Behind the glass wall, Cinder shook her head and gestured at Ruby.

"Should I turn the question around on you, then?" the villain proposed.

"Uh, no, please," Ruby said. "That's gonna lead to a very awkward conversation."

"Ah, and we wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable," Cinder said. "Now, please, do continue to prod me for intimate details about my life."


	7. That time Yang taught Pyrrha how to deal

**TALES FROM THE HUNT TOWER**

"That time Yang taught Pyrrha how to deal"

 **Setting:** after **Chapter Five** of **Weiss Schnee: Lockdown**

* * *

"-some kind of fur problem in the ventilation system which she got really annoyed with me about? Which is kinda fair since she couldn't stop sneezing, but I don't see how that's my fault. It's Zwei's, we all know it. Anyway, you should take a look at that too. And also, I almost forgot-"

Yang nodded along, only paying half attention to what Ruby was saying. It wasn't that she didn't care, but after Ruby had given the seventh or eighth item on her impressively long to-do list, Yang had had no choice but to throw her feet up on the couch and drone out her sister. She doubted she was missing anything too important.

"I think she also didn't like what we had in the fridge," Ruby said. "But I'm not sure what kind of food Miss Goodwitch would like us to eat? She'd probably put us on one of those ultra-healthy diets if she could. Yuck. I _think_ you can leave the fridge as is?"

Yang grunted vaguely and tapped on her Scroll, pretending to take a note. She seriously doubted Glynda would think less of any of them because of the contents of their fridge. But Ruby really wanted to make a good impression, so Yang would just pretend to agree with whatever she said.

"I think that's it?" Ruby frowned, taking a moment to think if she'd missed anything. "Oh! And make sure Zwei's bowl is full, extra-full, and that she sees it. She may have thought he was malnourished the last time she visited, and if he was, it would be our fault – and that's just terrible, so change her mind!"

Yang eyed Zwei, who was currently lying on his back under the living room table, his little paws raised upwards. The angle left his belly fully exposed, and if anything, he was getting a little fat for his size. "Okay."

"Great!" Ruby said. "So you'll do all of that?"

"Sure, sis," Yang said, sitting up and giving Ruby a big smile. "Miss Goodwitch will be so impressed, she'll think you're the best team leader ever, and you won't even have to be here."

"Well, they say a leader is only as good as their delegating skills," Ruby said smugly. "And I am an _excellent_ dele…gator?" She pursed her lips. "Hmm, that makes me sound like a reptile."

"Cold-blooded and with sharp yellow teeth?" Yang said, and Ruby stuck out her tongue at her.

They heard the elevator open, and Blake walked into the living room a moment later, an annoyed look on her face.

"Ruby, are you coming any time soon, or…?" she said. "I was waiting in the jet for ten minutes."

"Sorry!" Ruby exclaimed. "I just got done talking with Yang. We can go now! Bye, Yang!"

"Good luck not dying," Yang replied, and gave a furtive look to Blake as Ruby left for the elevator. "Seriously, make sure she doesn't hurt herself or anything. She can get a little overexcited killing Grimm."

"I know," Blake said, rubbing her forehead, where she'd once been inadvertently struck with the flat side of Crescent Rose's blade. "See you."

Blake walked after Ruby, and a few moments later Yang heard the elevator close and go up as they went to the hangar. In a few minutes, the pair would be taking off in a jet to Vacuo, where they'd be spending three to four days hunting down Grimm before any civilians could be harmed. And for those days, Yang would have the Tower all to herself.

Well, mostly to herself. Jaune was still in Atlas doing… whatever he was doing with Weiss, but Pyrrha had returned from a mission of her own earlier today. She'd gone straight to her room to sleep, but knowing Pyrrha, that would only last some four hours top, and then she'd be out and about as if she'd spent a whole week in a luxury spa.

Yang didn't mind sharing the Tower with Pyrrha for a few days. She was a pretty chill person to hang with, when she wasn't focused on some task or another. Which, admittedly, was kinda rare. But even during those times, Pyrrha was pretty easy to live with.

Maybe they could find something fun for them to do together while Ruby and Blake were out. It wasn't often that Yang got to spend time alone with Pyrrha – she almost missed the days when it was just the two of them and Jaune living in the Tower. Almost, because she hadn't exactly _enjoyed_ being the resident third wheel. It had been fun for a couple weeks, and then it had gotten old really fast.

Yang lay on her side on the couch and pulled a blanket over herself, only leaving an arm out to feel around for the TV remote. She could think up some fun activity later. For now, Yang intended to make herself a sentient potato.

* * *

Pyrrha left her room, stretching her arms above her head and rolling her shoulders, feeling renewed after a much-needed rest. From the silence of the apartment, it seemed Ruby and Blake had already departed to Vacuo. Not that Blake was ever any noisy, but usually just having Ruby and Yang thrown into the mix made life in the Tower a little… hectic.

She walked into the dimly lit living room, the shutters on the windows partly drawn so as to only let a little sunlight in. The TV was turned on, and Yang was on the sofa. Lying on her side under a thick blanket, she faced the screen slack jawed. Zwei was sleeping under the table, snoring soundly.

Pyrrha walked over to the sofa and looked at the TV, curious to see what had Yang so transfixed. She was rewarded with the sight of an elderly woman peeling potatoes on a countertop strangely devoid of any other ingredients, all while she spoke in a monotonous drawl.

Confused, Pyrrha turned to look at Yang. "Uhm, hello?"

Yang continued to stare blankly at the screen for a couple seconds, before the foreign sound of Pyrrha's voice registered in her brain and she blinked. Like a patient awakening from a year-long coma, she slowly sat up and looked around, before her eyes focused on Pyrrha.

"Hi," Yang said, taking the remote and pressing a button to lower the old lady's already unintelligible mutterings. "I can explain."

"That's okay. It's a cooking show, it's perfectly normal," Pyrrha said, gesturing at the TV. "What is she making, exactly…?"

"I don't know. She was already peeling when I tuned to the channel. That was two hours ago." Yang frowned. "I think she might be waiting to die or something." Shaking her head, Yang patted the sofa and started surfing channels. "Here, let's watch something less dreary together, how about that?"

Accepting the offer, Pyrrha sat down beside her, and after a moment's consideration, put her feet up on the table in front of them. It wasn't exactly her style to kick back and do nothing for an afternoon, but it wasn't like there was anything _wrong_ with doing that every once in a while.

"I want something brain-dead. Like, big explosions and people sticking swords in each other. 'Cause we don't get enough of that in our lives already, you know?" Yang said. "By the way, have you heard from Jaune about when he's coming back? I'm starting to get worried he died or something. Probably by the hands of a certain princess we know."

"I haven't, but I'm sure he's fine," Pyrrha said. "He's busy helping Weiss. I'm sure he'll call if he needs us."

"Well, I just hope he doesn't come back in a body bag," Yang said distractedly. "Oooh, that one sounds fun!"

She stopped on a film just going through its opening logos, and Pyrrha had a couple seconds to read its title and raise an eyebrow. She was pretty sure giant killer crabs didn't exist – some yet-to-be-discovered subspecies of Grimm excluded, perhaps – and even if they did, she doubted they alone could bring about the downfall of society. But she supposed it was only fiction, and the concept had her somewhat intrigued, so she didn't complain about Yang's choice.

"We should make some popcorn," Yang said, getting up.

Pyrrha bit her lip. "Oh, I'm not sure-"

"We're eating three tons of popcorn today! By nightfall, we shall have morphed into two human-corn aberrations!" Yang declared. "To the microwave machine!"

She pointed to the kitchen, then bravely marched to it. Pyrrha heard drawers being opened and things being throw around, and shuddered in horror of what might be happening in there. A few minutes later, the noises stopped, and Yang poked her head around the doorway.

"Uhm, I can't find the popcorn anywhere," she said. "Help me out?"

Happy to help, Pyrrha got up and walked into the kitchen. What she saw nearly drew a shriek out of her. So much discarded food packages thrown about, some on the kitchen table, some on the floor. Cooking utensils scattered around in mismatched sets, a few cupboards bustling with so many items it was a wonder they hadn't burst open yet. The toaster was balancing on the edge of the sink, for heaven's sake!

"Yang, this place is a mess! No wonder you can't find anything in here!" Pyrrha exclaimed, running to catch the toaster and put it down securely away. "I was gone for three days!"

"Well, to be fair, it was a long three days," Yang said, her cheeks crimson. "And things were getting messy even _before_ you left…"

"Not under my watch, they weren't! Certainly not to this level," Pyrrha said. She ran her hand across her forehead, analyzing the frightful state of the kitchen a second time, then took a step back and gestured around them. "Alright, this demands immediate attention. I can have this tidied up in an hour."

"But the giant crabs!" Yang said, dismayed.

Pyrrha turned around to face her, her hands falling to her hips, and that seemed enough to get her message across.

"Okay, you have a point. I'll help you out with the cleaning," Yang said, sighing. She bent over and started picking up the trash on the floor. "I _was_ planning on doing this already, just so you know. Ruby asked me to."

"Did she? Were you?" Pyrrha asked critically, moving over to pull out everything in the cupboards to later rearrange it all.

"Yes, and yes!" Yang said, puffing up her cheeks. "Glynda's coming over tomorrow, and Ruby wanted her to have a good impression."

Pyrrha nearly fell over backwards. By the look on Yang's face, it seemed she'd realized she'd done herself no favors divulging that information.

"Commander Goodwitch is visiting tomorrow, you promised Ruby to tidy up the Tower beforehand, and you were planning on spending the whole day watching TV?" Pyrrha said, shaking her head in disbelief. " _Yang_ …"

"Well I was going to do it, I really was! I was just going to, you know, do it tomorrow. It's not like I need a whole day," Yang said, crossing her arms defensively. "Look, Glynda's not coming over to have a sleepover or anything. She's just checking in, she'll stay five minutes tops. I was going to fix up the Tower, but honestly, even if it was a mess-"

"It _is_ a mess," Pyrrha interjected.

" _Even if_ – would Glynda really think any less of Ruby because of it?" Yang barreled on, staring sharply at Pyrrha. "She already believes in Ruby a whole lot. And if some trash here and there and a furry ventilation system is all that takes for that to change, then maybe Ruby shouldn't worry about what _Commander Goodwitch_ thinks about her."

Pyrrha pursed her lips. Yang had a point. Though Glynda might disapprove of how disorderly Ruby could be, she wasn't so short-sighted as to allow that to muddle her perception of the girl. But that didn't mean it was okay to let the Tower fall into such a state. There shouldn't need to be an incentive for Ruby and Yang to want to be orderly.

"Well, you promised Ruby," Pyrrha said. "So we're going to do what she asked, even if you don't like it."

"She told me to do a bunch of dumb stuff too, though. Like, stuff Goodwitch would never even notice," Yang said, disheartened.

"Do you have a list?" Pyrrha asked, and sighed at the guilty look on Yang's face. "That's alright. I should be able to figure things out. It's not hard to see where the place needs attention…"

She threw Yang a lasting glare, before they got back to work.

"…What was that you said about a… furry ventilation?"

* * *

Yang woke up with Zwei whining at the foot of her bed. She opened her eyes blearily and gestured for him to shut up. Zwei looked at her sadly for a moment, before he licked his paw and went to lie against her wardrobe. Yang rolled over to face the wall and wrapped her pillow around her head.

God, she was tired. She had expected Pyrrha to let her go after a while and assume the brunt of the work herself, but she'd been merciless all day. Yang had gained a new respect for Jaune for being able to keep up with Pyrrha when they practiced together. Though she suspected Pyrrha was much softer on him.

She was just drifting back to sleep when Zwei snapped her awake with another whine. This time, Yang sat up and glared at the dog, contemplating tossing her pillow at him. But seeing his pitiful eyes gazing up at her, her anger immediately drained, and she grabbed him and put him down on her lap.

"What's got you crying, baby?" she cooed. "Do you miss Ruby?"

It would be weird if that was the case. Zwei certainly missed Ruby whenever she was gone, but never to the point of crying at her absence. The team always made sure he was sleeping in one of their rooms at night so he had company. Why would he be crying now?

"Is it Blake? You wanna play a prank on Blake, but she's gone?" Yang said, fishing for any explanation. "You can do that when she comes back, it won't be long. I'll even help you-"

A banging noise reverberated through the apartment, causing Zwei to press himself against her belly. Startled, Yang grabbed her Scroll and shined its light on every corner of her room, her horror movie aficionado mind making her think a monster was about to jump out of the shadows and grab her. But her room was empty, and she couldn't locate a source for that noise.

"Okay…" Yang said slowly, getting up from her bed with Zwei nestled in her arms. "Don't worry, doggie. We'll check that out and go right back to sleep, okay?"

She opened the door of her room and slipped out, balancing herself on the tip of her toes. She advanced slowly through the hallway, passing her teammates' doors one by one without incident. The noise happened again as she reached the threshold to the living room, and her eyes darted to the ceiling. It was coming from up there, wasn't it?

"Spooky ceiling ghost," she whispered, giving Zwei a cautionary look. "Shh. Just, _slowly_ backtrack…"

She inched backwards, deciding to make her way back to Pyrrha's room to enlist her help. Not that she was _scared_ of ghosts – she could kick a ghost's ass! – but it was always good to have back-up.

But before she got there, the noise happened once more, and then it was followed by another, this one less of a banging and more of a… scratching? Yang's hair stood on end and Zwei squirmed in her grasp as they watched a square tile on the ceiling shift and scrap against the rest, before it detached itself and slowly floated to the floor.

Yang opened her mouth, about to shriek for Pyrrha to come running – only for Pyrrha's head to poke out of the new hole in the ceiling, her red hair falling victim to gravity as she gazed at Yang, mortified.

"I…" Yang blinked. "I must be dreaming."

"Did I wake you up?" Pyrrha said. "Sorry…"

For a while, Yang could only stare, perplexed at the sight before her. She put Zwei down, then walked closer to Pyrrha. "What are you doing up in the vents?"

Pyrrha squirmed for a moment, before she brought an arm out of the hole. She was holding a duster in her hand, which she nearly hit Yang in the nose with.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha grunted, hitting something as she moved in the tight space and produced the banging noise from before. "I was cleaning up the vents. There's so much dust and hair up here! It could get bad if one of us developed an allergy."

"But it's past midnight! Couldn't you have done this tomorrow?" Yang asked.

"I guess I could have. But there's still a lot of stuff to do," Pyrrha said. "I may have gotten a little carried away with the cleaning… I got done with the training room, so I thought I might as well knock out a couple more items on the list."

"Pyrrha, I thought you'd gone to sleep!" Yang pinched her nose. "This is so dumb. We're having a conversation, and you're upside down."

"If you want, I could get down so we can talk," Pyrrha said. "I'd rather not, though. Getting in here the first time was hard enough, I don't wanna have to do that again."

"You should get down here and not ever go back up!" Yang exclaimed. "Pyrrha, you realize you don't have to work every minute you're awake, right? It's okay to loosen up every once in a while."

Pyrrha stared at her for a moment, her cheeks coloring, before her eyes narrowed and she set her lips straight. "You promised Ruby this would get done."

"And I've already told you, she doesn't actually _care_ about any of this stuff," Yang said, crossing her arms. "She won't even ask about it."

"Yes, she probably won't. She knows you wouldn't even bother, so why ask?" Pyrrha said. "She's probably used to this sort of thing. But you're right – you know better than her. Who am I to talk about someone else's _sister_?"

Yang stepped back, astonished by what she was hearing. Was Pyrrha trying to suggest she was a bad sister?

"You know what? You're completely unreasonable right now," Yang said. "I'm going to sleep. You do what you wanna do."

"Fine, I will! I'll have this place so clean by morning, you'll think you woke up in a palace!" Pyrrha said, beginning to pull her head back inside the vents. "There's not going to be an inch of dust anywhere! I'll clean the elevator! I'll – ouch!"

There was a moment of silence, during which Yang looked up at the hole in concern.

"I hit my head…" she heard Pyrrha murmur sadly, before the ceiling tile floated up and fit back into place.

Yang sighed. So much for a stress-free break.

* * *

By the time Commander Goodwitch arrived the next day, the place was absolutely and flawlessly pristine, as Pyrrha had promised. Yang had noticed, and she was most certainly impressed – Pyrrha had caught her checking for dust and sniffing the air in wonder many times since she'd come out of her room. She was putting up an air of indifference, though, as if the work Pyrrha had put in didn't bother her in the least.

Pyrrha, for her part, tried to not act too smugly. She certainly _felt_ smug, but it wouldn't be very proper of her to appear so. So she took her pleasure in waiting patiently, and ever so often shooting a polite smile to her ever-so-helpful teammate.

As a beep from the elevator heralded the Commander's arrival, Pyrrha moved to the hallway to meet her. Glynda Goodwitch walked into the apartment with a sealed envelope under her arm, and upon seeing Pyrrha, nodded cordially.

"Miss Nikos," she said. "Always a pleasure to see you."

"The pleasure is mine, Commander! How goes your morning?" Pyrrha gestured behind her. "Please, come in."

"I'm afraid I cannot stay for long. Business as always, I'm sure you understand," Goodwitch said, but followed her nonetheless. "Luckily I could find the time to stop by. I would have sent someone, but I prefer to keep these matters personal whenever possible."

"Of course. And we're all glad to have you, Commander," Pyrrha said.

They stepped into the living room, Pyrrha watching Goodwitch with bated breath. The Commander looked around for a moment, her nostrils flaring ever so slightly, and nodded almost imperceptibly. It was a small reaction, but Pyrrha nearly jumped in delight.

Yang walked in from the kitchen, holding in her hands a bagel nearly half the size of her head. She locked eyes with Pyrrha across the living room, and they held contact for a couple seconds, before Yang raised the bagel to her mouth and _painfully slowly_ sank her teeth into it. Crumbs flew off and littered the ground around her feet, and Pyrrha watched in horror as chocolate filling spilled out and trailed down Yang's chin…

"Miss Xiao Long," Commander Goodwitch said polishedly.

Yang held eye contact with Pyrrha a moment more, then wiped her chin with her wrist and faced Goodwitch. "Hey, you. What brings us the G-Witch this fine day?" she said, smiling deviously. "Want a bagel?"

"No, thank you," Goodwitch replied, looking at the bagel with great skepticism. She took out the envelope from under her arm and shook it before her. "I have information that will interest your leader. But my understanding is she is not here at the moment?"

"Ruby went out to hunt yesterday, Commander," Pyrrha said. "She took Blake with her for back-up."

"Which she doesn't ever need, really," Yang added promptly.

"She certainly thinks she doesn't, yes," Goodwitch said. "But it shows promise that she took help with her anyway."

Yang nodded in agreement, appearing to have forgotten all about her little feud with Pyrrha for the moment.

"This is unfortunate timing. I was hoping to discuss this with her," Goodwitch said, tapping her envelope. "This contains reports on recent Grimm activity globally. We've been able to predict a number of larger-scale Breaches in the coming months that will require a heavier approach. That's where I'd hope your team would come in."

"Good call. We're pretty good with that kinda approach, if I do say so myself," Yang said.

"Well, if Ruby is not available, I suppose I could take this up with one of you?" Goodwitch said, looking from Yang to Pyrrha.

"That won't be necessary!" Yang said before Pyrrha could even start to formulate an answer. "You can just leave that here and Ruby will take a look when she comes back. She might not have been getting all A's in school, but she's got a mind for this sorta thing. She'll formulate a plan of attack for us in no time."

"I suppose you're correct. She _has_ done a remarkable job of leading you thus far," Goodwitch said. "I'll take your suggestion, then, Miss Xiao Long."

Yang smiled at her, then took the envelope from her hands and put it on the table before the TV. As she did that, Zwei came into the living room and walked over to the Commander, brushing against her ankles as he made laps around her legs.

"Ah. Hello to you too, dog," Goodwitch said, looking at Zwei with her neck cranked back, as if she didn't know what to do about such a creature. "Has he been… cleansed?"

"Yes. I gave him a thorough bath this morning, Commander," Pyrrha said proudly.

Yang looked at Zwei and blinked twice, noticing for the first time that, indeed, his fur was shiny, and his paws were white as snow. She looked up at Pyrrha in disbelief, as if asking when she'd had time to do that. Pyrrha just smiled and shrugged.

"And the rest of the place?" Goodwitch said, looking around. "Was that your work too, Miss Nikos?"

"It was a collaborative effort," Pyrrha said, linking her hands behind her back. "Ruby's orders."

Goodwitch hummed in acknowledgement and scanned the room one last time, before she nodded and turned away. "If you have nothing to ask of me, then I must be going."

"We're good, I think," Yang said. "Have fun commandeering things, G-Witch!"

"Miss Xiao Long, that is not what I-" Goodwitch closed her mouth, as if realizing that conversation was not one worth having. "Farewell, then."

"Allow me to show you out, Commander," Pyrrha said.

Zwei gave a little whine as Goodwitch followed her to the elevator. The Commander gave a brief nod before she stepped in and left.

When Pyrrha came back to the living room, it was Yang's turn to be smug. Sitting atop the sofa with one leg over the other, she had a look like she'd just beaten Pyrrha by a mile in a ten-feet marathon.

"Well, well. Wasn't she just _blown away_ by the cleanliness of the place," Yang said. "Why, I thought she would faint from sheer amazement, the poor lady!"

"She was impressed!" Pyrrha said defensively, crossing her arms. "Maybe not much, but she was."

" _I think_ she barely even noticed, actually," Yang said. "And if she did, I don't think she cared."

"Well, maybe you're right, but maybe she wouldn't even have come in if the place was in the same state I found it in yesterday!" Pyrrha said.

"Nah. I think you're just a sore loser."

Pyrrha grit her teeth. Her, a sore loser? _No_. And since when was this a competition?

Well, she supposed she had been kind of treating it as one after the incident with the vents. She had become so intent on proving herself right and Yang wrong, that she might have lost sight of why she'd started fixing up the apartment in the first place.

"You're right," Pyrrha said. "I'm sorry. I might have gotten a little carried away with all of this…"

"It's alright. I'm not gonna complain about you making this place more, you know, livable," Yang said, shrugging. "I'm sure Zwei appreciates your efforts."

Pyrrha looked down at Zwei, and he gave her a joyful bark. He'd been more than a little resistant to the bath at first, but afterwards he'd seemed very pleased about it.

"And I'm sure Ruby will appreciate it too," Yang said. "Even if she was the one who made the whole mess in the first place."

" _Contributed to_ the whole mess, you mean," Pyrrha said.

"Well, she had to learn it from someone!" Yang grinned. "Here, I'll tell her about it right now. I'll tell her Miss Goodwitch said she thinks Ruby Rose is the best superhero to have ever existed and that she would be happy to have her as a surrogate daughter." She stopped to think. "Actually, that might be a tad too much psycho-analyzing."

She gave it a moment's thought, before she shrugged and took out her Scroll. Just a couple seconds after she unlocked it, however, her eyes widened, and an astonished _woah_ escaped her lips.

"What?" Pyrrha said, alarmed. "Did something happen?"

Yang looked up at Pyrrha as if just remembering she was still there, and swiftly put down her Scroll. "It's nothing. Just, uh, Ruby… She ate too much chilly – and now she's, you know – nothing you should worry about-"

As Yang devolved into a bumbling speech, Pyrrha took out her own Scroll and unlocked it. Suddenly, Yang dropped from the sofa and jumped at her, attempting to snatch the device from her hands, but Pyrrha dodged aside and opened the Hunt's group chat, which had received a good hundred or so new messages in the past half hour alone.

Pyrrha scrolled up the conversation, a frown coming to her forehead as she attempted to make sense of the jumbled back-and-forth between Ruby, Jaune and Weiss. Finally she reached the first message, a long marching line of questions marks from Ruby, and the picture attached to it.

It was Jaune and Weiss, standing in line inside a restaurant, seemingly waiting in line to pay for their food. A remarkably mundane moment, except for the fact that they were holding hands, and Weiss, for all it appeared, was coming down after having just planted a kiss on Jaune's cheek. They didn't appear to be posing – in fact, the picture seemed to have been taken from very far away, without them having noticed it.

Pyrrha stared at the picture for a long while, before she lowered her Scroll. Yang approached her warily, not knowing what to expect.

"Where did you put that document again?" Pyrrha asked, blinking once, then twice. "The one Goodwitch brought."

Yang looked at her in confusion, before she gestured vaguely at the table. Pyrrha walked over and grabbed the envelope, then nodded at Yang.

"I'll be in my room," she said, then walked swiftly away, the paper crumpling under her fingers.

* * *

"Pyrrha!"

Yang knocked on the door again. After almost a whole minute without a response, she knocked again, and reared back.

"Pyrrha, open the door," she said. "Open the door right now, or you're gonna have to buy a new one after I'm done with this!"

She waited a couple seconds, listening to any noise on the other side, and lifted her foot off the ground. Just as she was about to go through with her threat and kick the door into splinters, she heard a click from the lock, and finally the door opened.

Pyrrha stared at her in silence. Apart from being annoyed by the incessant knocking, she appeared fine. But Yang knew better than to let appearances fool her.

"What do you want?" Pyrrha said. "Is something happening, do we need to leave?"

"No," Yang said, and reached forward to press a hand against the door, stopping Pyrrha from closing it. "You've been in there for hours, Pyrrha."

"I've been busy," Pyrrha said. "And I was making up for all the sleep I didn't have while I was cleaning up the place."

Giving no mind to the affronted look Pyrrha gave her, Yang walked right into the room. As always, Pyrrha's bedroom was immaculate, the only exception being the pile of notes and papers scattered over her desk on the corner across from her bed.

"And what exactly have you been busy with?" Yang asked, giving the desk an once-over. She might expect a mess like that from Ruby when she was planning upgrades for Crescent Rose, but never from Pyrrha.

"I was analyzing the info Commander Goodwitch gave us," Pyrrha said. "I know Ruby will be making plans for us, but I thought there's no harm in giving her something to start off with."

"Right…" Yang leaned over the desk, trying to decipher the papers, but there was barely anything comprehensible there. "You've not been doing a very good job of it though, huh?"

Bristled, Pyrrha walked past her and started to gather the papers in an orderly fashion. "I was… There's a lot to analyze."

"You were distracted," Yang corrected for her, and pulled Pyrrha's hands away from the desk. "Pyrrha, forget about the damn papers."

Before Pyrrha could protest, Yang took everything on the desk – except for Goodwitch's initial report – and mashed it all into a ball, then tossed it over her shoulder.

"Yang!" Pyrrha said, clenching her fists. "…You could have at least used the trash can."

"Good point. Guess I've learned nothing from the last twenty-four hours." Yang beat her hands, then looked at Pyrrha, unphased. "Alright, time to get serious. Have you been reading the group chat?"

Pyrrha pursed her lips, clearly not wanting to go into that topic, but Yang didn't care. If she was allowed, Pyrrha would spend the rest of eternity without talking about things, and that's what had gotten her into this situation in the first place.

"I'm gonna assume you didn't," Yang said, giving a glance to Pyrrha's Scroll, left lying – but surely not forgotten – on her bed. "Let me fill you in, then. Weiss and Jaune are together."

Pyrrha flinched, and Yang saw her eyes waver. It was almost enough to make Yang stop.

"Sort of together," Yang continued. "They're _testing things out_." She shook her head and waved dismissively. "According to the two idiots, they were only planning on telling us once they had their stuff figured out. But people are assholes and it got out. That's how Ruby learned."

And if Ruby had been a little wiser, she wouldn't have divulged that where everyone, especially Pyrrha, would see. Yang fully intended to give her a lengthy talking-to about it when she got back, but right now she had more pressing matters to concern herself with.

"Understandably, Weiss is also pretty pissed. Not that I care that much, but, for what it's worth." Yang shrugged. "Anyway, Jaune's gonna stay in Atlas a little longer. And then who knows what's gonna happen. In the meanwhile…"

She walked over to Pyrrha's bed and sat at the edge of it, then patted the space next to her. After a moment, Pyrrha let out a heavy sigh, and sat down beside her.

"So," Yang said, gesturing at the empty air in front of them. "Clearly, you like Jaune."

"Where did you get that idea?" Pyrrha said, her hands moving restlessly on her lap.

"Pyrrha, I lived with you and him for weeks. If anyone should know, it's me," Yang said matter-of-factly. "And _everybody_ knows. Blake knows. Even Ruby knows."

"Okay, fine. I like him," Pyrrha said. "So what? I'm a little upset about – but what does it matter? If he's happy with Weiss, then I'm happy for him. For the both of them. It doesn't have to shatter my entire world, Yang, I'm not a little girl. And what right would I have to be upset, it's my fault I didn't make a move. Weiss even talked to me about it. It would be more than a little hypocritical of me to get mad at her-"

Yang listened calmly, waiting for Pyrrha to finish with everything she had to say. When she finally fell silent, Yang nodded and promptly took out her Scroll.

"Want me to call her and tell her she's a bitch for you?" she asked.

"What? No!" Pyrrha said, turning scarlet. "God, please no, Yang."

"If you say so," Yang said. "Jaune, then."

"No! Not him, even less him!" Pyrrha covered her face. "Why would I even be angry at him, Yang?"

"Pyrrha, come on. Of all people, you should know he's not a moron. He _knows_ you like him," Yang said. "That doesn't mean he's obliged to like you back, of course, but he could have tried to talk to you about it sometime."

Yang flicked herself in the ear. This was not the time to be the reasonable mediator – no, she had to be the supportive, tear-the-whole-population-of-Remnant-apart-for-you, friend.

"Look, forget about how he feels or how _she_ feels or whatever. You have every right to be upset right now, and you know what? They're both jerks!" Yang said. "Pyrrha, you know you're _allowed_ to be upset when things don't go your way, right? Especially things like this."

Pyrrha sat in silence, her eyes darting around her room but never finding anywhere to focus on. Yang could only imagine the emotions she was processing at the moment. Being brought up in a pseudo-military establishment was bound to be detrimental to a person's development, unless all they intended to do with their lives was to fight monsters and evil tyrants until the day they died.

Which, Yang supposed, might just be what Pyrrha had intended her life to go, even if she didn't realize that herself.

"Okay, so, you've not been through anything like this, right?" Yang said. "Well, I've been through that ringer a couple of times myself. Now, that doesn't make me an expert…" She snorted. "Far from it. But I know for sure that burying yourself in work is not a healthy way to deal."

Pyrrha sighed, then looked at her, and Yang thought she'd never seen Pyrrha look so small before. "Okay… What would you do in my situation, then?"

"Well, there's… three ways, I'd say," Yang said. "The first one is to go right up to whoever did you dirty and yell in their face until you're hoarse. But I think confrontation's off the table with you, so let's scrap that."

"Yes, please no confrontation," Pyrrha said.

"Okay. Method number two, then – you hook up with someone," Yang said. "Preferably, that someone should be as similar as possible to your unrequited jerk, so you can make them _feel_ just what they're losing out on. In your case, you'd want someone blonde, handsome, who fights monsters for a living, and is too shortsighted to picture the far-reaching consequences of their actions."

Pyrrha slowly turned paler with every word she heard. By the time Yang was finished talking, she looked ready to bolt out of the room and jump through the first window she saw.

"Luckily for the both of us, I am not _that_ shortsighted, so we won't be doing that," Yang said, clapping her hands. "And that leads us to the third and final method."

Pyrrha sighed in relief, though once she saw the growing smile on Yang's face, she didn't appear so reassured.

"Which would be…?"

* * *

"Harder! Put your back behind it, woman!"

Pyrrha looked down at her fist and clenched it tighter, then shot Yang a dubious look. Yang smiled and nodded her head, bringing up two thumbs in encouragement. Shrugging her shoulders noncommittally, Pyrrha turned back to face the training bag and threw a punch. The bag swung out with the impact, almost hitting the ceiling in its apex, before it came flying back towards her. Pyrrha held out an elbow to stop it, and waited for the bag to come to a halt, unphased.

"I… don't think I feel any better," she said.

"Well, of course you don't!" Yang said, hands on her hips. "You call that a punch? Zwei hits harder than that!"

Watching from the doorway of the training room, Zwei barked in agreement.

"I'm punching as hard as I can, Yang," Pyrrha said, holding back a sigh.

"So what? It's not just about the force behind it. You've got to put some feeling in it too, that's the most important part!" Yang said. "Just gather all that rage and hurt boiling inside you and let it all out with one big strike!"

Pyrrha looked at the training bag, hesitant to do as Yang advised. Using your emotions as a driving force could be useful in certain situations, as long as they were the right emotions. The ones Yang was talking about, anger and hurt, those were only detrimental and better off discarded.

But that was what Beacon had taught her, and what had made her a great agent during her years working there. Now, things were different. She would never forget the things she'd been taught, but today, lives weren't on the line. This was just about her.

Steeling herself, Pyrrha drew back her fist, and in the second during which she swung it at the bag again, every furious thought in her mind came bursting to the surface – how stupid she'd been to wait so long, _too long_ – how much of a hypocrite and a bitch and a terrible friend Weiss was being – and how little Jaune must think of her, to not even call her, to let her find out like this, like she meant nothing all to him-

The training bag reached its height and came swinging back, but before it reached its halfway point, Pyrrha let out a shout and darted forward with her other hand. Her fist stung with the blow, even her plentiful Aura not enough to soften it completely, and the bag shot away, the chains that suspended it shattering. It hit the wall across from her with a thunderous boom, then fell to the ground, its fillings spilling out from a tattered hole on its back.

Pyrrha gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Horrified, she looked at Yang, but the blonde looked only ecstatic.

"That's the spirit!" Yang shouted, pumping her fist.

"I-I didn't mean to do that!" Pyrrha said, walking over to the ruined bag. "Oh, how am I gonna fix _this_ …?"

"Forget about it, we'll just buy a new one. I'll split the cost with you," Yang said. "Let's move on the next one, then, eh?"

With a spring on her step, Yang dragged a wooden dummy from the corner of the room to its center. She then produced a baseball bat from under a bench and tossed it at Pyrrha.

"Yang, you can't be serious," Pyrrha said, catching the bat and holding away from her.

"I am one hundred percent serious," Yang said, and tilted her head a bit. "Well, maybe not one hundred percent. This is all really fun. But I'm dead serious about you letting it all out!"

"We can't destroy all the training equipment just so I can feel better!" Pyrrha said.

"I never said _all_ the training equipment, but I like where your head's at," Yang said. "It felt good, right? I don't see what's stopping us."

Pyrrha looked at the bat. Yang was right, letting out her rage in one big go had felt _extremely_ good. She could still feel the adrenaline flowing through her veins, and she had to admit, that dummy's face looked very smashable to her eyes at the moment.

Casting off her doubts with a sigh, Pyrrha lifted the bat, rounding it twice in tiny circles, before she swung it wide at the dummy's head. It flew off and exploded against a wall.

Yang started clapping, but not a second passed before Pyrrha swung again, this time striking the body of dummy. It split into two, launching splinters everywhere, and Pyrrha brought the bat down as hard as she could.

As she swung the bat again and again, smashing her target into more and more deformed shapes every time, Yang ran off to fetch the reserve dummy.

After an hour – or maybe just five minutes – Pyrrha stopped and dropped the bat on the floor. Breathless, she looked around the training room and found it littered with the destroyed remains of what had once been very expensive equipment. And somehow, she just couldn't seem to care.

"So, that was fun," Yang said, snapping her fingers to draw Pyrrha's attention. "Agree?"

"Yeah… That was fun!" Pyrrha said, and picked up the baseball bat again. "Should we move on to the living room now?"

"What? No! Slow down, I think this was enough physical therapy for one session," Yang said, waving her hands nervously. "Let's not ruin all the fancy work you did on the apartment, okay?"

Pyrrha nodded and sat down on the floor, trying to catch her breath. Feeling a wetness on her cheeks, she brought up a finger to brush them, and more than a little startled, realized she might have let slip a few tears during her rampage. Her face flushed, but as she looked up at Yang, she only found a warm smile waiting for her.

"Do you feel any better?" Yang asked.

"I think so. A little bit," Pyrrha said quietly. "I didn't know I was capable of… Well."

"Oh, everyone's capable of doing this, Pyrrha. Don't believe anyone who says they aren't," Yang said. "It's just a matter of acknowledging it, right? No one's in full control of their feelings all the time. And sometimes, you just gotta, you know – _boom_!"

She mimed swinging a bat, and sat down beside Pyrrha.

"Now you just gotta figure out what you're gonna do about Jaune when he comes back," Yang said.

"Right… I'm really not sure about anything…" Pyrrha said, rubbing her forehead.

"At least you've got a clearer head now, though. Better this way," Yang said.

"Yes, this definitely helped. Thanks, Yang," Pyrrha said. "You're really good at this sort of stuff. I guess you've got plenty of experience, being Ruby's sister and all."

"You'd think so, right? I've had many, many talks with Ruby, but none about relationship stuff yet," Yang said, and her face paled a bit. "I don't know how I'm gonna handle that when the time comes. Like, how do you respond to, _oh God sis I was making out with my robot girlfriend and her power ran out while we were in the middle of it! What do I do?!_ "

Pyrrha patted Yang on the back. She was pretty sure Penny didn't run on batteries or anything of the sort – and she wasn't involved with Ruby in that manner anyway – but she could see how that scenario might be troublesome.

"I'm sure you'll do a great job."

"Of course. I might be a bit of a hot mess myself, but damn if I'm not an excellent helper," Yang said. "By the way, I lied to you."

"Oh?" Pyrrha frowned.

"There are plenty other ways to deal with this sort of stuff. And honestly, this one? Not the healthiest option," Yang said. "But I figured unhealthy might actually be _healthy_ , in your case. Just this once, though."

"I suppose that makes some sense…" Pyrrha looked around. "We've gotta fix this before Ruby and Blake come back. I'll be so embarrassed if I have to explain."

"Don't worry, we'll get that done. But first, another coping mechanism," Yang said, getting up and offering a hand. "What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

Pyrrha pursed her lips, considering the question. She really wasn't sure. Taking Yang's hand, she got back on her feet, and they walked away from the remains of the training room.

* * *

 **So this was an interesting chapter to write.** **My original concept for _Tales_ was for it to not tie-in or interacted with the main stories of the RSU too much, but I think that was a bit of an impossible streak to maintain. If I didn't break that with this chapter, it would still eventually happen with another. I mean, just next chapter would have done for certain, with what I intend to do with it. But that's a story for later!**

 **I hope placing this in the middle of an ongoing story doesn't prove too confusing or detrimental to that narrative. This was a bit of an experiment, and depending on what you guys think of it, I may think of doing similar things later on.**

 **Oh, and a fun fact, as is tradition: the first chapter of _Tales_ , before it became what it became with Zwei, was supposed to be a story about Yang getting Pyrrha to loosen up and such hijinks. But it was proving too convoluted and just wasn't working out, so I scrapped it. I'm much happier with how this chapter worked out!**

 **-Zeroan**


	8. Let's talk about puzzles

**Author's note: if you checked this out for the first few hours, you might have noticed it was a repost of the Yang-Pyrrha story. Apologies for that, it was a mistake on my part when uploading. Unfortunately, ffnet's replace and update function, like many things with this _wonderful_ platform, just refused to work properly for hours after I used it. So what you're seeing now (if it actually worked, because who knows if anything will at this point) is a 'new' chapter 8 altogether after I deleted the old, incorrect one. Apologies if you got a new notification because of it.**

 **On a _completely unrelated note_ , I would like you to point you towards another, much more functional, organized, and visually-pleasing platform where I upload the RSU and all my works: Archive of Our Own. Just look up my username and you'll find me there.**

 **Anyway, enjoy some Ruby and Cinder banter.**

* * *

"And what's _this_ supposed to be?"

Cinder turned the little wooden box in her hands, her eyes shifting from it to Ruby's face, as if she were trying to decipher what sort of trick was being played on her.

"It's a puzzle box!" Ruby said, crossing her legs on her chair excitedly. "Yang went to Mistral on a mission last week, and she bought this for me as a gift. Apparently it's a thing in their culture? They've been building stuff like it since, like, forever!"

"I see. And you brought it to me because…?"

"Because there's supposed to be a prize inside… and I just can't get it open. It's _really_ difficult!" Ruby pouted. "I thought you could help me out?"

Cinder stared at her for a moment, furrowing her brow, before she almost imperceptibly shook her head.

"Is this a veiled attempt at flattering me, Ruby Rose?" Cinder asked casually, starting to run her fingers over the box's surface.

"Me, flattering you? Nah!" Ruby grinned. "It's just that I know you are smart, like when you made a whole convoluted plan to destroy the world. You just don't apply that in a very, uh… productive way?"

"How is destroying the world _not_ a productive way of utilizing my intelligence?" Cinder said.

"I mean, maybe that's constructive for you, but not for everybody else in the world," Ruby said.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Cinder turned the box over and tapped her knuckles on its back side. "Actually, I know for a fact that there are plenty of people out there that would have appreciated it greatly. They must have been devastated when you stopped me from accomplishing my goal."

"Why, 'cause they're criminally insane like you?" Ruby asked.

"Some of them, yes," Cinder said, growing distracted as she seemed to come to a realization about the puzzle. "Though most of them, I imagine…"

She brought the box level to her eyes, holding it between her index finder and her thumb. She bent her fingers, putting just the slightest pressure on the wood…

"… are just very sad creatures."

And then moved her fingers in opposite directions – and the upper and lower halves of the box separated cleanly.

"Hmm." Cinder sat up, pressing her lips in disdain. "That was disappointingly easy."

"And I was stumped!" Ruby said, shaking her head. "How did you solve it?"

"It really is quite a simplistic design. You would have figured it out, had you exercised the slightest patience," Cinder said, smirking. "Or you could have taken your scythe to it. But I suppose you felt you had no choice but to come beg the help of the _terrible_ Cinder Fall once again…"

"Hey! I just thought I'd give you a fun thing to play with for a while. I didn't know you were going to solve it in a minute!" Ruby said. "You had _some_ fun, at least?"

"Provoking you? Definitely."

Ruby looked at Cinder crossly, but the older woman was entirely unaffected by her anger. Still grinning, Cinder took the lower half of the box and turned it, dropping its once-hidden contents – a wrapped candy and a little paper with the words _CONGRATULATIONS_ and _GREAT WISDOM_ written on it – on the palm of her hand.

"Is this Mistralian too?" Cinder asked, bringing the candy close to her nose.

"Must be," Ruby said. "Anyway, I gotta get back home. Tonight's pizza night and I don't wanna miss it again."

"You were very upset when that last happened, yes. And blamed it strictly on me, of course," Cinder said. "Go on, don't let me keep you."

"Oh, wow, thank you _so much_ for giving me permission."

Ruby got up and dragged her chair back to the corner, then started heading to the door.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Cinder said.

"Hmm?" Ruby looked back and noticed the candy still in Cinder's hand. "Oh, right. You can keep it."

"Are you sure you want me to have it?" Cinder raised an eyebrow at her. "With the food I'm given here, I won't complain, but you seemed like you wanted your prize very much."

"It's okay." Ruby shrugged. "I mean, I put it there for a reason."

She met eyes with Cinder, and her lips slowly opened into a smile as she watched the smugness drain from the villain's face and be substituted by a look of begrudging respect.


	9. That time things got heated in the Tower

**TALES FROM THE HUNT TOWER**

"That time things got heated in the Tower"

 **Setting:** after **Weiss Schnee: Lockdown**

* * *

"Best of the best," Cinder said. "Five letters."

Ruby leaned back on her chair, pursing her lips as she pondered the answer. "…Elite!"

Cinder stared at the crossword book. "That fits." She wrote down the answer with her pen. "Only eight words left to go. Next one… Celebrations, akin to fist bumps. Nine letters." She paused significantly. "I left that one for you to solve, if you couldn't tell."

"Well, yeah, that one's easy! High-fives!" Ruby said, grinning. "Have you ever high-fived someone, Cinder?"

"Why, yes, Ruby. My life's been a constant stream of high-fives, one after another," Cinder said dryly. "Would you like to high-five me now?"

"I would, but…" Ruby tapped on the glass separating them and shrugged.

"And that makes me ever so sad." Cinder rolled her eyes. "Palindromic farm animal. Three letters."

Ruby frowned. That one didn't ring any bells. She was pretty sure she knew what a palindrome was, but that didn't help much. She could always ask Cinder to confirm she was right, but Cinder had a habit of getting all snobby about these things. Sometimes, Ruby let her – it was one of Cinder's few joys in prison.

"Ewe," Cinder said, and marked the answer down.

Ruby blinked. "Excuse me? A what now?"

"I'm sorry. I assumed you knew what an ewe was," Cinder said, a smile creeping on her lips. "You are one, after all. As well as your friends." She waited for a reaction, but as Ruby still had no idea what she was talking about, she was left unsatisfied. "An ewe is a female sheep, Ruby."

"Oh," Ruby said. "I still don't get it."

"Maybe ask Ozpin to clarify sometime," Cinder said. "A _blank_ of faith. Four letters."

Ruby stared at Cinder in the silence that followed, not so much thinking about the next answer, but about what Cinder had said. This was how she got any information out of Cinder. It was only ever snippets and throwaway remarks, never anything told directly. It was up to Ruby to pay attention so she didn't miss those, and then she had to figure out what they meant later.

Cinder cleared her throat.

"Sorry!" Ruby sat up. "Uh… a _leap_ of faith?"

"You're a genius." Cinder marked down the answer. "A victory at any cost. Thirteen letters." She gave Ruby no time to think, her pen already moving on the page. "Scorched earth. And we are finished."

"Wait, what? I thought you said there were eight words left," Ruby said, and quickly counted with her fingers. "Shouldn't there be four left now?"

"I solved those while you were gawking at me," Cinder said. "Honestly, I don't know why I allow you to help me with these. I'd finish them faster on my own."

"That's easy for you to boast about. _You_ have the book right in front of you. I have to keep track of stuff in my head," Ruby said.

"Whatever makes you feel better about yourself," Cinder said. She flipped through the book, a look of disappointment crossing her face for a second, before she closed it and put it on the ground. "I believe I've exhausted this one."

"That's a bummer," Ruby said. She stood up and put her chair on the corner. "I gotta go now. I'll bring you a new book next time."

"And I assume that'll be two weeks from now, as usual?"

Ruby looked at Cinder. She appeared perfectly normal, but there was something off about her. Maybe it was the inflection of her voice, or the way she met Ruby's eyes without getting up herself. Or maybe Ruby was just imagining things.

"I can see if I can come by sooner," Ruby said hesitantly. "No promises, though. I might be busy."

"Of course. We wouldn't want the world to go up in flames because I was bored," Cinder said. "…Thank you."

Yeah, there was definitely something off about Cinder today. She had never thanked Ruby before.

Ruby smiled. "You're welcome."

* * *

"Disgusting," Weiss said. "Absolutely disgusting. How can anyone stand to eat _and_ enjoy it?"

She ripped a chunk of the pizza slice with her teeth and swallowed it with visible gusto, and Blake had to roll her eyes at the blatant hypocrisy.

"It's not that bad, Weiss," Pyrrha said, sitting beside her at the kitchen table. "I'd take this over hot dogs, for one."

"That isn't saying much. Must we maintain this tradition of 'pizza night', even when the whole team isn't present?" Weiss asked. "This is only a thing because Jaune and Yang are pigs. And Ruby, too. Let's not forget her."

She threw Ruby a look across the table, but if Ruby heard her, she didn't care enough to respond, which was a surprise. Maybe she was so engrossed in enjoying her own slice that she forgave the blasphemy. Or, Blake suspected, her mind was elsewhere.

"You can always eat something else if you'd prefer, Weiss," Blake said. "No one's forcing you."

"Thank you, but this is a matter of solidarity," Weiss said, lifting her chin. "I cannot allow my teammates to suffer alone."

"Of course," Blake said. "By the way, you'd be a lot more believable if you didn't have tomato sauce all over your nose."

Weiss yelped and grabbed a napkin to wipe her face, only to realize a moment later that there was nothing to clean there. She glared, and Blake only grinned in return.

"I maintain my argument," Weiss said. "Pizza is one of mankind's worst creations. Second only to videogames, that is."

She turned to Ruby again, expecting, if not _wanting_ her to vault over the table and attack her. But no such thing happened, and Weiss visibly deflated on her seat. Blake studied Ruby for a moment, before sharing a look with Pyrrha.

"We're all finished, then?" Pyrrha said, wiping her mouth.

"Huh?" Ruby looked up from her plate. "Yeah, I'm full." She burped, and it was quite loud, much to Weiss' chagrin. "I think I'm gonna go to my room and sleep it off."

"Don't let us keep you," Blake said.

Ruby stood up and left the kitchen, and though there wasn't anything outwardly wrong with her, Blake noted that she wasn't nearly chipper enough after having eaten so much of one of her favorite foods.

"Let me get these," Weiss said, standing up and grabbing the dirty plates before anyone else could. She moved to the sink and started washing.

Blake looked at the doorway, then turned to face Pyrrha.

"You noticed it too, right?" she asked.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha said. "Yes, she's been acting… not entirely like herself."

"She's quiet," Blake said. "What do you think is the reason?"

"I don't know. But it must have something to do with her… appointment today," Pyrrha said. "She was just fine this morning before she left. And then when she came back…"

Weiss looked over her shoulder. "Appointment? What are you two talking about?"

"You must have noticed Ruby leaves the Tower every other Thursday," Blake said. "Wherever she goes, she goes all by herself."

"Oh. Yes, I did notice that," Weiss said, frowning. "I thought she was visiting her father, or maybe meeting with Ozpin or Goodwitch. Isn't that the case?"

"I asked Yang about it once," Blake said. "She said that's when Ruby goes on her _secret dates_ with Penny, because Ironwood disapproves. But I don't see why she'd be quiet about that. I can see her being excited, or embarrassed, but not quiet."

"Did Yang hear that from Ruby herself?" Pyrrha asked skeptically.

"I'm not sure," Blake said. "Yang can get ahead of herself about these things."

They were silent for a moment, thinking about the matter. Weiss turned back to the sink, though she kept an eye Blake and Pyrrha as she reached for the drying towel.

"You don't think we should be worried about her, do you?" Pyrrha asked. "I trust Ruby, and I know she can take care of herself. But what if she needs help and won't ask for it?"

She gave Blake a most unsubtle look, and taking her training into account, Blake figured that was intentional.

"We could always find out where she goes for ourselves," Blake said uncertainly. "She carries her Scroll everywhere. It shouldn't be difficult to track it, right?"

"I… suppose we could do that, yes," Pyrrha said. "I don't know if we should, however."

"It'd be for her sake. And we'd be perfectly honest with her about it afterwards," Blake said.

"Alternatively." Weiss turned around. "One of you could talk to her about it. _That_ wouldn't be difficult either. In fact, I'd think that should be easy, seeing as we're all grown women."

Blake bowed her head hastily, her hands falling to her lap.

"You're right, Weiss," Pyrrha said. "We shouldn't be talking behind Ruby's back like this."

"Yes," Weiss said. "Ruby might be an odd girl most of the time, but I'm sure everything's fine with her."

* * *

Ruby tiptoed into the living room, careful not to make noise in the early morning. She didn't want to wake anyone up – that would be a jerk move. And, yes, also because she didn't want the others to know she was going to see Cinder again.

Not that they would know that, even if they saw her leaving. But they could maybe extrapolate. It was best to avoid that possibility altogether.

She made sure she'd put the crossword book she'd bought yesterday in her backpack, then walked towards the elevator. Before she could get there, however, she was interrupted by the noise of the kitchen door opening, and Pyrrha walking into the living room.

Ruby stopped in her tracks, her left foot frozen in mid-air in front of her, like a cartoon character caught in the act of sneaking away. Which she supposed was accurate, except she wasn't a cartoon character… as far as she knew.

"Hey, Pyrrha…" Ruby said, dragging her vowels out. "You're, uh, you're sure up early, aren't you!"

"Am I?" Pyrrha looked at the clock. "I think I'm a little late for my morning jog, actually."

"Right! I forgot you did those. Somehow." Ruby cringed. "You're very diligent about that kinda thing… And that's great!"

"Thank you!" Pyrrha smiled. She saw Ruby's backpack then, and tilted her head slightly. "Are you going somewhere again? Didn't you just go yesterday?"

Ruby opened and closed her mouth. She wanted desperately to just sprint away, maybe jump out a window and scatter into petals, but that would just make everything worse in the long run.

"Yeah. And now I… have to go again?" Ruby said. _Impeccable work, Miss Leader. Very confident._

"I see," Pyrrha said. "Do you mind if I ask where it is you go, Ruby?"

"It's personal." Ruby tried to keep her cringe internal. That was a big hole she was digging for herself.

"That's fine." Pyrrha didn't say anything for a while, just regarding Ruby with a concerned look on her face. "I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable, but Yang said you were going on secret dates with Penny…?"

"What? No, that's not it at all!" Ruby shook her head. "I'm definitely not ready for that yet."

A second later, she realized she'd just been presented with the perfect cover and immediately destroyed it. Well, maybe not perfect, but it was _a_ cover. Better than stuttering like an idiot.

"You know, Ruby, you don't have to hide anything from us. Definitely not from me," Pyrrha said. "If you need help with something, I'm right here."

"Uh, thanks. But I'm fine. Promise," Ruby said. "I… think I'm gonna go now."

She backed up slowly towards the elevator, her heart dropping as she saw the disappointed look on Pyrrha's face. Ruby slumped against a wall as the doors closed. She really needed to find a way to talk to everyone about this…

* * *

Blake heard a knock on her door and got up to answer it. Pyrrha stood in the hallway, arms crossed and a concerned expression on her face.

"Hi," Pyrrha said. "I think I may have interrogated Ruby in the living room just now. It was… mostly an accident."

Blake processed that for a moment, and nodded. "It happens to the best of us."

She gestured for Pyrrha to come in, and looked out into the hallway, noting that it was empty. Weiss was still sleeping in her room, and Jaune and Yang wouldn't be back from their mission until tomorrow. Ruby _should_ still be in bed at this time, but considering the not-so-quiet footsteps Blake had heard outside her door a few minutes ago, and the fact that Pyrrha was here now…

"Did she leave again?" Blake asked, closing the door.

"Yes, and I don't think she was going to tell any of us about it. I only know because I was already awake and caught her sneaking off," Pyrrha said. "I asked where she was going, and she was very evasive. She's not seeing Penny, though. She said she's not ready for that yet."

"It doesn't take an interrogation to figure that out," Blake said, nodding. "She really didn't tell you anything?"

"Yes. I have to be honest, Blake, I'm getting really concerned," Pyrrha said. She contemplated something for a moment, and continued. "I don't like this, but I'm starting to consider what you suggested last night."

"Tracking her Scroll?" Blake said. "Yeah, I don't like that either. But…"

Neither of them said anything for a while, the implications of what they were discussing weighing on their minds.

"Here's what I think. This could be something big, or it could be nothing. We have no way of knowing until we do," Blake said. "I'd rather find out which it is and risk upsetting her, than doing nothing and waiting for _whatever_ to blow up in her face."

"I have to agree. Specially as this could affect the whole team," Pyrrha said. "But whatever we find out, Blake, we _will_ tell her. Even if it's harmless."

"Absolutely," Blake said. "Should we tell Weiss?"

"I don't think she would support us doing this. Rightfully so," Pyrrha said. "For now, let's leave her out of it. Ruby will choose whether to fill her in later."

Blake nodded. Keeping Weiss in the dark added another unpleasant layer to all of this, but that couldn't be helped. The decision was already made.

* * *

"You're back early," Cinder said.

Ruby let the door close behind her and stepped closer to the glass, watching as Cinder sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep off her eyes.

"I could have sworn you were here just yesterday. Unless I'm losing all sense of time." Cinder's eyes flittered about as she took in her surroundings. "That wouldn't surprise me."

"You're not crazy." Ruby paused. "Well…"

Cinder raised an eyebrow at her, and Ruby shrugged.

"I brought you a new crosswords book. Didn't want you to die of boredom or something," Ruby said. She slipped the book through a thin passage that opened in the glass. "Oh, and a pen. In case yours runs out."

Cinder took the two objects, and the opening closed. Ruby waited for a response, probably something about her being foolish to give Cinder anything, or if she was lucky, a backhanded thank you. But Cinder said nothing, flipping through the book idly. Ruby couldn't see her eyes.

"Cinder?" Ruby called, and the other woman's head snapped up.

"Yes," Cinder said. "Thank you. I suppose."

She stared Ruby in the eyes, and Ruby could swear she wanted to tell her something. But there was only further silence from Cinder's part.

"Well, I gotta get back home now," Ruby said. "I'm not even supposed to be here in the first place."

"Understandable," Cinder said. "I suppose I can expect you to return in two weeks?"

"That's the plan," Ruby said. She took a step towards the door, then looked over her shoulder and risked a smile. "Don't go anywhere 'til then, okay?"

Cinder made a vaguely amused noise. "I'll be waiting right here."

* * *

Ruby silently watched the numbers on the elevator as it rose towards the top. She knew something was up with Cinder, and she could barely keep her mind off that, but a more pressing matter was encroaching on her – how she was going to tell everybody about it.

There was always a chance Pyrrha hadn't told the others about her sneaking off earlier, but even if that were the case, her returning to the Tower now would raise a lot of questions. There was no way to hide that she'd gone _somewhere_ two days in a row. She could try to come up with a lie, but she would be up against Pyrrha, an ex-Beacon agent, and Blake, who was about as perceptive a person as Ruby knew. Even Weiss would be able to tell something was off.

Regardless, Ruby didn't want to lie. She'd already done a lot of that, mostly by omission, but that needed to stop. She needed to come clean, she just didn't know how. Every time she thought how that conversation might go, and how the others might react, she was seized by panic.

She had to figure out a way. And for that, she needed time.

When Ruby came out of the elevator and walked into the living room, she quickly realized she would have no time at all. Blake and Pyrrha were sitting in silence on the couch, and they immediately met eyes. Blake stood up, a restless energy about her, while Pyrrha remained seated, looking at Ruby with a frown on her face.

"Hey, guys… Good morning," Ruby said, slowly coming to a halt. "So. How cool is it that we have an elevator to our own place? _Wowie_ , can you be jealous of yourself? Because I sure am right now!"

She was met with silence.

"Right. You're probably wondering where I went," Ruby said. "Just give me a minute and I'll get back to you on that."

"Ruby, we already figured it out," Blake said. "You've been visiting Cinder Fall, haven't you?"

"What? How-" Ruby swallowed dry. "How do you know?"

Blake opened her mouth to speak, then seemed to think twice about it and looked away. Pyrrha stood up and took a couple steps towards Ruby, coming to stand between the two of them.

"I tracked your Scroll," Pyrrha said calmly.

Ruby felt her pocket, startled. "You _tracked_ my Scroll?"

Blake looked their way again. "It was my idea."

" _Our_ idea," Pyrrha said. "We tracked you to a Beacon base, and from there it was simple to figure out the rest. Unless we're completely off the mark, you've been paying visits to Cinder Fall's cell."

"Considering your reaction, I think it's safe to say we were right," Blake said. "Are you going to try to convince us otherwise, or are you finally going to be honest with us?"

"I didn't lie to you guys on purpose!" Ruby said, gesturing helplessly at them. "I just didn't know how to tell you. I was going to - I was just trying to figure out how."

"You had a _year_ , Ruby. More than a year," Blake said. "This is serious, Ruby. It's not the kind of thing you keep secret. It's not even personal, it could affect all of us, and we didn't even know about it!"

" _Blake_ ," Pyrrha said. "That's enough. Take a minute, okay?"

Blake mouthed wordlessly for a second, before she bowed her head and mumbled an apology. She sat down on the couch, leaning on her knees as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with both hands.

"Ruby, we're not angry with you," Pyrrha said, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Blake clearly is," Ruby noted, wringing the hem of her shirt.

"Give her time. _I'm_ not angry with you," Pyrrha said. "I just want to understand why you'd make a regular event of going to talk to Cinder, of all people. She's dangerous."

"I know she's dangerous. But she's a person, and she knows things," Ruby said. "Important things that we should probably know about too. I just need her to open up to me."

"Open up to you? Ruby… She's a mass murderer," Pyrrha said, holding back a sigh. "I understand your desire to look past that, and I'm sure there must be a _part_ of her that's not evil… But she still tried to kill us. She would have destroyed Vale, probably doomed the whole world to the Grimm, if we hadn't stopped her."

"Except we didn't exactly stop her, did we? Not completely, anyway. She surrendered. Maybe we would have beaten her anyway, but we'll never know for sure," Ruby said. "Don't you want to know why she did that?"

"I see your point, Ruby, but I'm not convinced talking to her is a wise thing for you to be doing," Pyrrha said. "You could have at least told us."

Ruby brushed off Pyrrha's hand and stepped back, clenching her fists.

"See, this is why I didn't say anything," she said. "You're treating me like I'm crazy, or stupid, or – or something. Like I don't know what I'm doing."

"Ruby, that's not what's happening here. We're just worried about you, that's all," Pyrrha said.

"Oh, really?" Ruby said. "That's funny, 'cause last year you were worried to death about everything that was going on with Blake, but you still respected her enough not to stick your head in her business. But _I_ don't get that treatment. Nope, everybody knows better than Ruby Rose!"

Blake stood up again. "You're missing the point. We trust you, but that means nothing if you refuse to trust _us_."

"I do trust you!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Maybe start showing that you do, then, because right now I don't buy it," Blake said.

Ruby threw her hands up, and in that moment, Weiss walked into the living room, looking like she'd been woken up by a passing tornado.

"What the hell is going on here?" Weiss looked at the three of them, eyes wide. "Is it Grimm? Is the world ending? Are we out of breakfast food?"

"Ruby's been visiting Cinder Fall in prison," Blake said.

"They tracked my Scroll!" Ruby exclaimed.

Pyrrha sighed. "This got out of hand really fast."

Weiss stared at them for a while, her jaw hanging limp, before she blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"Is that all? Is there anything more?" Weiss said, a slight note of terror in her voice, mixed with utter confusion.

"No, actually, Blake was telling me about how they're going to track Yang and Jaune's Scrolls now," Ruby said. "It's been five seconds since we heard from them, so we're starting to worry they might have joined a gang."

"If you don't want to be treated like a child," Blake said, "then stop acting like one."

Ruby flinched. Blake said nothing else, staring at her coldly, before her expression softened and she walked off towards her room.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said swiftly to Ruby, and went after Blake, a scowl on her face.

Ruby took a deep breath. "I'm gonna get some air."

Weiss said something, but Ruby ignored her and made for the elevator.

* * *

"Ruby, slow down for a second, will you!" Weiss exclaimed. "This is ridiculous!"

She lost sight of the back of Ruby's hair as she suddenly turned a corner, and put up a burst of speed to try and catch up. Weiss nearly collided with a businessman coming the opposite way, but after a hurried apology everything was fine. Luckily, Ruby hadn't gotten that far, and Weiss managed to weave her way through the crowd on the sidewalk and get a grip around the other girl's wrist.

"Seriously?" Ruby spun around to face her. "Do I have to actually run to get away from you?"

"I'd rather you didn't," Weiss said, smoothing out her shirt with her free hand. "It's way too early for us to be doing this, Ruby."

"Well I'm sorry I dragged you out of bed. You can get back to it if you want," Ruby said.

"There'd be no point. Unfortunately for us both, I'm wide awake now," Weiss said. "Can I let go of you, or?"

Ruby scowled at her. "It's good to know you also think so highly of me, Weiss. Thanks for the support."

"Ruby, I'm not here to-" Weiss cut herself short and looked around, realizing they were making a scene. "This isn't the place for this. Let's find somewhere quieter, and then we can talk."

"Sure, let's do that," Ruby said. "It's not like it matters what I want or think."

Weiss decided to ignore that remark, for both their sakes, and guided Ruby down the street, looking at the shops and restaurants they passed. Finding a café and seeing through the windows that there weren't that many people inside, she went in, and sat Ruby down at a corner table before taking the seat across from her.

"We should get you something to soothe your nerves," Weiss said. "Something without caffeine. That'd just make it worse."

"I don't really feel like drinking anything right now," Ruby said quietly.

"Ruby, you probably haven't noticed, but you're shaking really badly."

Ruby looked down at her hands and swallowed visibly. She laid them flat against the table and slumped in her chair, and Weiss thought she saw a hint of something shimmering in her eyes.

"I'll order a hot cocoa for you," Weiss said softly. "Would that be okay?"

Ruby nodded almost imperceptibly. "Okay."

Weiss flagged down a waitress and ordered a cup of hot cocoa for Ruby, as well as a coffee for herself. They waited in silence, Weiss quite willing to let Ruby cool down at her own pace.

"How much did you hear?" Ruby asked.

"Not much, to be honest," Weiss said. "But enough to get the gist of the… issue. Or so I hope."

"Great. So you probably think I'm an idiot, too, for talking to Cinder like she's a human being," Ruby said.

"I don't think you're an idiot," Weiss said.

"Weiss, please don't patronize me."

Their drinks arrived, and Ruby immediately downed a third of her hot cocoa. She wrapped her hands around the cup, comforting herself with the warmth.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Ruby. I do have reservations about the idea," Weiss said. "I also wish I had heard this directly form you. Blake and Pyrrha were out of line, going behind your back like that, but I understand their frustration."

"I kinda forced their hand, not telling you guys," Ruby said. "You all should have known about this from the start."

"That doesn't justify what they did. It was a total disregard of your privacy and trust, and you have every right to be angry with them because of it," Weiss said.

Ruby nodded and took a smaller sip. Though she was still far from relaxed, she had at least stopped shaking. Weiss drank her coffee. It was a tad too bitter for her taste, but considering what else was happening this morning, she couldn't be all that annoyed.

"I meant what I said back home. I do trust Blake and Pyrrha. I trust you, and the whole team," Ruby said. "I'm not sure why I let this get to this point."

"Maybe it's an issue of us trusting you?" Weiss said. "You said something about being patronized. Do we make you feel… _less_?"

"No, it's not like that. Not that way, at least," Ruby said. "It's just, I _know_ I'm not as mature as the rest of you. And that doesn't matter most of the time. I don't mind being who I am. But…"

Ruby trailed off, frowning, as if still figuring out the point she was trying to get to.

"But…?" Weiss said.

"I don't know," Ruby said. "I guess I've just had to prove myself a bunch of times, to a bunch of different people, but it feels like that's never enough. And I get it, I can be really bad about taking care of myself sometimes. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna set off a nuke the second people let me out of their sight."

Though Weiss had never known Ruby to be a particularly reticent girl when it came to speaking her heart, she was still taken aback by her earnestness in this instance. There was a raw vulnerability to the way Ruby spoke. Minutes before, she had been a trembling mess. Now, she was still as a statue.

"Ruby, can I tell you something?" Weiss asked.

Ruby looked at her uncertainly. "Like a secret?"

"I suppose it's like that. It's something I intended to take with me to the grave," Weiss said. "But I've realized recently that this is exactly the kind of thing you should talk about with the people closest to you."

Ruby tilted her head, her curiosity thoroughly piqued.

"I knew about you before we met," Weiss said.

Ruby blinked. "Huh?"

"I saw an article in a newspaper. It was about the famous _Red Bolt_ , hero of Vale and Patch," Weiss said, and Ruby's face shone with understanding. "Up until I read that article, the only person I knew had a Semblance was my sister. I was almost convinced there weren't any others, but your existence proved otherwise."

"That's… neat, I guess," Ruby said. "Funny how things work out."

"Yes. Funny." Weiss took a sip of her coffee. "That was actually the day before I fought Roman Torchwick and injected myself with the Semblance serum. If I hadn't known about you, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to do that. So, in a way, you're responsible for me being a…" She considered her words for a moment, then cleared her throat and rolled her eyes. "A _superhero_."

Ruby stared at her, slowly processing the information. After a few seconds, her lips curved in a smug smile.

"Heh. You're right," she said. "I'm totally part of your superhero origin story."

"Yes, and you should be proud of that. Of course, we actually met a few months later," Weiss said, "And you turned out to be an utter dunce of a person."

Ruby jumped in her seat, nearly knocking her cup to the ground.

"That's so mean!" she said. "I thought we were having a moment, Weiss."

Weiss smiled. "We still are," she said. "I was wrong, Ruby. Yes, you annoyed me a great deal back then, but that said more about me than it did about you. My gigantic ego notwithstanding, I've always been happy to count you as a friend, and to have you as my team leader." She extended her hand towards Ruby. "You've never disappointed me."

Ruby took Weiss' hand, her chin quivering as she stared at her from across the table.

"Please don't cry," Weiss pleaded. "This morning has been a lot. I don't think I could handle that on top of everything."

"O-okay, I promise I won't," Ruby said. She brushed her sleeve over her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "Yeesh. I don't know why I got like that all of a sudden. It just, uhm, it means a lot to hear that from you."

"It shouldn't. You don't need mine or anyone's approval to feel good about yourself," Weiss said. "But if it's any comfort, I'm positive Blake and Pyrrha feel the same way about you." She paused. "Minus the initial, _slight_ misjudging of your character, that is."

"Heh. I'm pretty sure I peer pressured Blake into teaming up with me when we first met, now that I think about it."

Ruby took a big sip of her cocoa and sighed.

"I feel much better now. Thanks, Weiss," she said. "This is nice. We should make it a regular thing."

"Agreed." Weiss raised an eyebrow at her. "But how about we skip the emotional crisis next time?"

* * *

At sundown, Blake came to visit Ruby in her room. Her door was open, and she looked like the picture of tranquility, doing maintenance work on Crescent Rose at her desk, but Blake still hesitated to make her presence known, let alone come inside uninvited. She pondered walking away and letting the day's events fade into obscurity, but that didn't sit right with her. She found her courage eventually, and gently knocked on the door.

Ruby looked over her shoulder, doing a double take once she realized Blake was standing in her doorway. "Hey, Blake."

"Hey," Blake said. "Is it okay if we talked a bit?"

"Sure, I'm all ears," Ruby said. She dropped her tools on the desk and sat sideways in her chair to face Blake.

"Okay. Well, you probably know what I want to say," Blake said. She leaned on the doorframe and stared at Ruby uncomfortably for a moment, suddenly finding herself at a loss for words. "This was easier in my head."

"That's okay. You came by to apologize, right?" Ruby said. "You don't have to. Pyrrha already did that, and I had a nice talk with Weiss too. I'm not upset or anything."

"I'm glad you feel better. But I still need to apologize," Blake said. "Not just for tracking your Scroll, but also for exploding on you this morning. And for calling you a child."

"That did suck. But I know you didn't mean anything you said," Ruby said. "As far as I'm concerned, that's all water under the bridge now. You're one hundred percent forgiven, Blake."

Blake sighed. She walked over to Ruby's bed and sat at the edge.

"I didn't mean for things to get so heated," Blake said. "I'd agreed with Pyrrha to just have a mature conversation with you. We knew it was a delicate situation, and we had crossed a line. We just wanted to get to an understanding with you." She shook her head. "Pyrrha would have done fine if I hadn't been there. I just escalated things."

"Again, Blake, it's fine. I forgive you," Ruby said. "Though I gotta say, I don't think I've ever heard you raise your voice like that at anyone before. What was that about?"

"I don't know. I'm just worried about you."

Blake regretted that answer the moment it left her mouth. Ruby didn't say anything, but she averted her eyes, and took a bolt from her desk and started twirling it between her fingers.

"I'm sorry. I honestly don't mean to belittle you or anything of the sort, Ruby," Blake said. "It's just that I… I have experience with people like Cinder. They're awful, manipulative people, but the more time you spend trying to understand them, the more it'll look like they're not. Before you know it, they'll have you convinced. Then they'll stab you in the back, and that'll be on _you_. It's a mark you'll carry with you for the rest of your life."

"You really think I'm stupid enough to let Cinder manipulate me like that?" Ruby asked bitterly.

"It's not about you being stupid. I'm telling you that _could_ happen to you," Blake said. "I know that because it happened to _me_. Do you think Adam perfectly hid who he really was until the moment he turned on me, or do you think I just refused to see what was right in front of my face the whole time?"

Ruby was quiet for a moment. She put the bolt back on the desk and flicked it towards Crescent Rose, then turned to face Blake again.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I didn't mean to imply you're stupid, Blake."

"I know you didn't," Blake said. "We all think we're infallible, Ruby. Unfortunately we're not, and we all get to learn that lesson sometime. It doesn't have to be painful, though. That's what I'm trying to spare you from."

"So you think I should stop visiting Cinder?" Ruby said.

"It's your call. If you still think that's important, then keep doing what you're doing," Blake said. "I'll support you, even if I disagree with your decisions."

Ruby groaned and slipped down her chair, almost falling to the floor.

"This is so frustrating! I wish you'd just yell at me again," Ruby said. "Blake, why do you have to be so wise all the time?"

Blake scoffed. "I'm not wise," she said. "If I could take my own advice as well as I dish it out, I'd not be here, trust me."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Ruby sprang back up, gesturing wildly at Blake. "Do you not enjoy living with us? Saving the world and all?"

"No, that's not what I meant! These have been the best times of my life, honestly," Blake said. "It's just, you know. Things are complicated and stuff."

Ruby blinked. "Okay, maybe you're not that wise after all."

Blake sighed. She hadn't exactly stuck the landing, and the take-off hadn't been all that great either, but she'd done a good job on the most important parts, at least. She'd have to be satisfied with that.

"Sorry for the speech," Blake said. "Are we good?"

"Yes, for the hundredth time, we're good. Forgiveness has been dispensed." Ruby rolled her eyes. "Who are you, Pyrrha?"

"Good point. I'll get out of your hair now."

Blake stood up and started walking away. She stopped at the door to look at Ruby, who had begun working on her scythe again.

"By the way," Blake said. "Have you thought how you're gonna tell Yang and Jaune yet?"

Ruby eyes went wide, and she nearly dropped Crescent Rose on the floor. "I don't think Yang will be mad," she said. "But… that's not going to be any fun."

"Would you like me to be there?" Blake asked.

"That'd make it easier, yeah," Ruby said. "Thanks, Blake."

Blake smiled and bowed her head. "Anything for my valiant leader."

* * *

 **Fun fact: sometimes writing your characters being mean to other is more painful than writing a character getting shot in the leg with a shotgun. (Sorry, Sienna. It's nothing against you.)**

 **Conceptually, the conflict in this chapter was supposed to be more between Ruby and Pyrrha, but it didn't turn out that way. Sometimes the story takes a life of its own and you can't do anything about it. I'll find a way to explore that dynamic more in the future, I'm sure... And I do love writing Ruby and Blake interactions, so I'm still happy.**

 **If you're wondering where the Yang sequel is (lovingly nicknamed _Fiery Boogaloo_ while it's still in production) will be coming out... soonish. Chapters 1 and 2 are already written, and I've started work on Chapter 3. I'll start publishing the story once I've finished Chapter 4.**

 **-Zeroan**

 **PS: don't forget to read the Cinder mini-chapter, wink wink.**


	10. Let's not talk

"Good morning, Cinder," Ruby said, pulling up her chair to sit in her usual spot close to the glass wall.

"Good morning."

Ruby paused as she smoothed out her cloak under her. There was something different about Cinder's voice. Or, to put it more accurately, different from what Ruby had gotten used to in her most recent visits. There was an edge in Cinder's voice. It was almost like they'd traveled back in time and returned to their first conversations.

" _Is_ it a good morning?" Ruby said. "You sound a bit… rough."

"As opposed to my usual cheerful self? I'm so very sorry to disappoint you," Cinder said. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Ruby looked past Cinder and saw the crosswords book she'd given her two weeks ago, sitting seemingly untouched on her bed.

"Nothing in particular, no," Ruby said. "We could do crosswords. You've probably filled out half that book already – _if_ you held yourself back."

"I haven't touched it, actually," Cinder said dryly. "In fact, you can take the book back with you, if you want."

"No, you… you can keep it," Ruby said.

Ruby looked Cinder up and down. Cinder never let her emotions show, not willingly, but Ruby could tell she was agitated. Did she feel threatened by Ruby's presence all of a sudden? Or was it something else?

"Cinder, I feel like you've been wanting to tell me something for a while now," Ruby said. She knew it was a great risk, being this direct, but she had to bite the bullet sometime. "Whatever that is, you can trust me with it. I'm-"

"I have nothing to tell you," Cinder said, cutting her off abruptly. "I don't feel like talking to you today, Ruby. I'd rather you left me alone. Can you do that?"

Ruby knew the words shouldn't sting, but they did anyway. She thought she'd built some rapport with Cinder, but apparently she'd been wrong. But she didn't let herself get more upset than that. Remembering what Blake had told her, Ruby stood up and put her chair away.

"Okay, whatever you want," Ruby said. "We can talk more next time."

Cinder stared at her, eyes sparking with a tired anger. "There doesn't need to be a next time."

Ruby didn't even ponder the possibility. "I'll be back. You can mark it on your calendar."


End file.
